Hi everyone..I just wish to know if there is some truth to this..well, some of my friends who are now in U.S.A. have talked to us here in the Philippines about some racial problems. When she arrived at Manhattan, she was given a lot of assignments in her area..which she did not mind at all at first. But, there came a time..that she wanted to question herself on why other american nurses are'nt as busy as her..or she has to forego lunch and dinner just to see to it that she has done her duty well...compared to others..who can really smile around and rub elbows with other nurses. She is one of the best nurses we have here..and she can speak the English language well.
She went to the point of really pouring out herself to a friend she had and was there really a great flood of tears.
So..may I ask anyone? ..Who do you think really originated in this land of milk and honey? Aren't most of you now in the U.S. also were once from other nations too/? or maybe trace up your ancestors....I hope all nurses will protect nurses and love nurses..be they be black, white, red, yellow or brown. In this way, we stand up in our profession as One.
There is a big teaching hospital here from which I was told by six nursing students to stay away. The reason? The Phillipino nurses would tear the nursing students to shreds and implied only Phillipino nurses would be able to work the units they worked.
I can work with anyone. I don't care what ethnic background you are just be fair and respectful.. I recently resigned from a facility because of the lack of management support. I find it very rude for nurses to speak their native tongue in front of others who do not speak their language. It is courteous to speak english. The only time I can see speaking another language is to accomodate our patients. What I find in some facilities there are clicks in the group and it can cause a real problem with alienating other nurses to the point where you start seeing favoritism. It is not fair in the least. I appreciate everyone's differences and it is nice to see different colors and cultures however there has to be a limit when it enroaches on others.
To balance things out a bit, you can also find several threads on this BB about nurses reporting that other nurses from a particular country, like the Philippines, try to get nurses NOT from their country to quit their jobs or transfer from their units so that they can keep all-countryperson groups together.
We have that problem here on one unit where the staff try to maintain a Filipino only staff. No one else wants to work there, even agency staff after experiencing a shift there. They are getting written up left and right even by me!
I was going to leave this one alone but I can't. My first travel assignment was at a hospital with a very diverse staff. The floor nurses were 50% Filipino and I found them to be very helpful and friendly. I did annoy me that they spoke their native language on the floor but I got over it. As long as you are a good nurse I don't care what race you are.
The policy at my hospital is English only unless speaking in a patient's own language.
It may not be discrimination at all. It may be that your friend is a dedicated worker who actually believes in properly taking care of her patients and many of her co-workers do the bare minimum. Working on the weekends, I have seen the nurses who are sitting at the desk chatting at least half their shift, and they come in all colors. They are the ones who aren't doing any patient teaching and really aren't doing much more than passing meds and telling other people (especially MAs) to go do something.
"Desk" nursing. Don't ya just love it. Amazingly, desk nurses document turns every 2 hours, frequent patient checks, etc.
They are such good nurses, they turn, and check patients without leaving the station!!!
Faster than a locomotive.
Brilliant at getting others to do their work.
All colors, all shapes, all ages. One thing in common....lazy
As an agency nurse, I see many different environments. Racist white nursing staff, racist black nursing staff, etc. The last facility I worked at was extremely racist toward white staff. The administration was so very concerned with lawsuits that they ignored the situation. CNAs were yelling at charge nurses without discipline, taking hour long breaks, ignoring job duties, etc. The Sister would even address racism in her morning prayers over the paging system. (I have worked with white staff who exhibited the same degree of racism- administration ignored the situation-which actually cultivates it)
Birds of a feather flock together.
Hard working, non-racist staff members had quit-both black and white. Racist people do not get along well with non-racist people.
They cannot get any "good" agency staff to work there-- or anywhere that there is any type of racism.
As agency nurses, we tend to see ourselves as a group, both black and white. We let each other know how the work environments are at different facilities, and we don't want to work in racism.
It actually feels good when the agency calls and tells us that the facility is "begging" for workers. Then we know that things might change.
Specializes in Informatics, Education, and Oncology.
being an african-american (for 41 years) i've experienced racism in nursing and outside of nursing. i've had patients call me the "n" word, been spit on and other insults. i've had both good and bad experiences with philipino, german, american nurses, etc. guess it all depends on how or if you let it get to you.
being an african-american (for 41 years) i've experienced racism in nursing and outside of nursing. i've had patients call me the "n" word, been spit on and other insults. i've had both good and bad experiences with philipino, german, american nurses, etc. guess it all depends on how or if you let it get to you.
It's a shame that you've had these experiences. I agree with the posters who said that co-workers could be any color under the sun, as long as they don't work while glued to the desk and are pleasant to be around.
America perfect? Hardly. Room for improvement? Definitely.
As one Chicago nurse to another, I hope you have good experiences also.
you know, paramedicated made an interesting point in that we do discriminate in education and why not race?
we live in a society that resists change and are comforted in everyday mediocrity..... the same, familiar, safe, predictable people and events every single day.
so if there is discrimination in nursing, then it is rampant everywhere else. and it is SO not limited or focused on racism. if it's not one race or person or way of thinking, or gender, or sexual preference, or political persuasion or mental illness, then damn it, we'll find something else to belittle.
lisa-888
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