RACISM IN NURSING

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RACISM.

I hope that this is the correct place for this post, but I am in need of help.

My brother ( black male working in a town which is 96% white, 3.8% other) who is also a nurse is currently working in the Dakotas and has been there for over a year and loves it there. He confided in me today that two of the CNA workers who work for him spit into his bottle of water when he was away from his desk. He stated that he was "wondering why they were laughing so profusely when he started to drink his water after assisting a patient on his floor". The sad thing is that the two other CNA workers who witnessed the incident did not say anything for a few days, but after careful reflection, they then told my brother and the management what they had witnessed. My brother immediately went to management and they told him to "stop making a big fuss over this". As a result, ONE of the CNA workers has been fired, but the other remains employed there. He has had testing for any possible bodily fluid diseases which he could have contracted, but is still bothered by the incident.

I am so disappointed in what happened because my brother is the one who encouraged me to become an RN to help others, but I have reservations now about possibly working in "rural areas" because of what happened to him. I am currently in a large metropolitan area and have not experienced this type of behavior (at least not yet). I treat ALL of my patients the same no matter what race, nationality, gender, or sexual preference ( I am in an area with a large"alternative" lifestyle population). In my opinion 'PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE' no matter what they look like or believe.

PLEASE let me know what avenues you may suggest for my brother to explore. He nor I want this to be "swept under the rug" because as healthcare professionals, I CAN NOT tolerate this type of behavior to no matter who it may happen.

Please advise.

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

I fail to see that this was racially motivated, given what you have shared. Do you not think this types of incidents happen in urban areas?

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Specializes in critical care, ER,ICU, CVSURG, CCU.

I don't see racism

i see deplorable employee insubordination, and un professional conduct

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I am making it my mission to ensure that she is fired and is reported to the Board of Nursing. We're also talking to the board about revocation of licensure.

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Specializes in Hospice.
dddubbu said:
I am making it my mission to ensure that she is fired and is reported to the Board of Nursing. We're also talking to the board about revocation of licensure.

Is your brother on board with this course of action?

Most boards of nursing do not address employee discipline issues, so, unless your brother wants to press criminal charges for battery, it's unlikely to amount to much.

Your brother could try a hostile workplace or harassment complaint. A lot depends on context and patterns of behavior.

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I don't believe that a person that will sink this low deserves to be around patients. If she will do this to another healthcare worker, what are the limits to what she'll due to a helpless patient?

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
dddubbu said:
I am making it my mission to ensure that she is fired and is reported to the Board of Nursing. We're also talking to the board about revocation of licensure.

In most states, CNAs are not licensed. Therefore, there would be no license for the state board of nursing to revoke.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...I am a black female in a very large city in the South. During my career I have experienced a handful of blatant incidents that were racially motivated, such as the lovely patient who called me a "black ___" (rhymes with 'hitch' but starts with a 'B') and said "go back to Africa" (I am not from Africa).

The incident involving your brother may or may not have been race-based, but here is the caveat: no proof exists it is racially motivated unless the guilty CNA was overheard discussing your brother's racial/ethnic background in a derogatory way.

Good luck to you and your brother. Some people need to grow up.

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Specializes in ER.

Whether it was racially motivated or not, isn't it a crime to do something like that? Maybe the police should be contacted .

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Specializes in Med/Surg, LTACH, LTC, Home Health.

I worked with a nurse at a nursing home many, many years ago during my LPN years. She was the type that always had to be the one to save the day....even would go so far as to wreck the day just so that she could save it. She and I both had keys to the med room. In there, it was ok to store our lunch and drinks as long as everything had a cover. Management even provided us with covers for opened soft drink cans. (As I said, this was many years ago).

It was well-known that I had, and still have, a very strong sensitivity to bleach. Long story short, this woman poured bleach in my Pepsi. When I returned to the med room for my soda, the smell of bleach grew stronger as the can got closer to my mouth; so much so, that I knew my soda had been tampered with. I was like WT*!! I know god**** well this **** didn't put bleach in my drink!

I put the can down, walked out of the room to find her literally staring me in the face. My thoughts were, "today, ****, let's see you save your own ***"! I went straight to management, told them my concern; we all went back to the med room, got the can of soda and sent it to one of the local hospital's lab for testing. The results indeed came back positive for bleach, and she was fired on the spot. A load of BS, yes. Racism, no.

That was a defining moment in my life. Now, today as result of that experience, anything (food or drink) that I don't finish at work once I open it, is thrown out at the moment I'm called away from it. Lots of nurses have these fancy water bottles at the nurses desk, and are constantly not within line of sight of them. Brave souls, they are...

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Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

Some people are just awful. Any and every color.

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.

Employees tainting each other's food and beverages? That should be immediate grounds for dismissal.

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Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
meanmaryjean said:
I fail to see that this was racially motivated, given what you have shared. Do you not think this types of incidents happen in urban areas?

I also feel that there is little evidence that this was racially motivated based on the information you gave. The fact that you brother is black and these co-workers were white may be only coincidental.

It could be and I may be entirely wrong that the CNAs in question felt disrespected by your brother and retaliated. This is not OK at all and no excuse but I have seen a lot of nurses men and women alike treat ancillary staff like something you would wipe off your shoes.

Your argument that you treat all patients is a good reflection on your practice - now ask yourself how you treat ancillary staff from Housekeeping all the way up to your CNAs.

Everyone wants to feel respected in their jobs

Again these thoughts in no way excuse what happened to your brother.

Hppy

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