racism in nursing

beautimouslove · Apr 30, 2005

first off, i have not read any of the other mess. yet.... what u are going thru, i have been and still am... i sent a letter to the dean of instructors about my program... send the letter thru an e-mail account with out ur name, like yahoo. write the mail and do not go into detail... just explain... it is thier job to investigate the events going on in the program. nursing schools feel like they are not apart of any school. i sent an e-mail, the instructor's thought anyother student sent it b/c she went and talked with the dean, and she might fail this semester.... and i and others hang out with her. my instructor told me that i was going to stop hanging out with her IF i was to continue in the program.... what to do? what ever u do... do not put ur name out there.... instrutors grade very subjectivly... thus can fail u if they want to. be careful. let the dean respond to ur mail and they will... just be careful!!! i cannot stress this enough. i pray that i do not fail b/c of what i have done. ur not being a coward for not giving your name,,, ur covering ur but and all the hard work u have done.. here is the letter i wrote....... it's long, but might give u more of an outline of what TO say........

hope this helps you. good luck and be careful....

dean,

blank has always been a wonderful place to gain great knowledge, make long lasting friendships, and have a degree that they are proud of receiving. This past fall semester i started the RN program. I am now in the second semester of the program. There are many concerns that others and I have concerning the nursing program that need to be brought to your attention. In hopes that you can correct to some degree the problems will bring great relief to the students, future students, and health care community that will be served through the program. I understand that all new programs have there problems whether it be _____ or another College, university, and/or school. Getting accredited is very important to -----, and to everyone that is/has invested time into the program. Ms. , Ms. , and Ms. have been pleaded with over our concerns to no avail. Please understand that I am not alone in this plea for change/help.

Blood, sweat, and tears go into a RN degree, no doubt. The people remain in this program have given blood, sweat, and tears thus far. I do fully agree that nursing school is supposed to be hard and stressful to a degree. All of time is spent studying for exams. To date, emphasis is placed on passing the NCLEX-RN exam, excluding the ability to take care of human life upon completion of the program. ----- has a great reputation so I fully expected to be taught how to be an efficient nurse/RN. I, like others, put in several hours into studying each day. I am finding it very difficult to display my knowledge through my exams because most of the exam questions are extremely advanced. Every exam is extremely advance for our knowledge thus far. Some questions do not reflect what is in the book/books or the material that we are to cover. To dispute a question we have to fill out a form and give five references to back it up. We are not allowed to see out exams once we have taken it not even by appointment. It is hard to give references on questions when they are not in the book. Past or future material is fair game for the exams. We are tested on material that is not even discussed in class one time. Most students find that it does not benefit them to study for exams. In most instances the students that do not study make a higher grade on an exam than the ones studying. We are given a CRE on a skill then tested on demonstrating the skill. We are to take a CRE on material that we have not talked about ever and have two chances to pass the CRE. If we do not pass it on the second time then we are out of the program. We are not made known how to do a skill until the day of testing for that skill. We have three chances to pass the skill or we are kicked out of the program. It is an everyday occurrence that we might be kicked out for something. The greatest majority of the courses are self-taught. Class time does not cover one-third that might be on an exam. Class time is not effective or time management of the content. Class time is a waste of time, time that we can be studying at home. Nursing school should be stressful but not this much. The schedule is changed on day-to-day bases. We are in a perpetual state of confusion. One example: Nur 251 was scheduled for Wednesday 11:30-2:30 and is now Thursday 9:00-12:00. The lab for Nur 251 was scheduled for Thursday or Friday and is now on Wednesday from 8:30-3:00. The schedule again will change when we go to clinical on February 17th. It is very difficult to work when the schedule is always changing. We all went through 'boot camp' the first semester and have twenty people left in our class out of sixty. We have no self-esteem left. We have one instructor that makes sure that we do not have any self worth. We are broken down with no building back up in sight. We are reminded every day how we might not make it through this program. We are reminded daily on how we do not have the knowledge but expected to have all knowledge for any exam. "A" students are barely passing. Exams are truly a guessing game.

I will not give you my name because I am fearful of being kicked out of the program. They cannot kick me out for writing to you but they will find a way to have me out of the program if they desire to do so. I have worked too hard to have this transpire. I trust that you understand.

It is very difficult to get into another program at this point. We would have to start over again and wait another year. I will not give up on the dream that I have had since I was young, "I will be a RN". Please help with out plea. We had to go through a lot to get into this program. We have paid a lot of money to get this degree. We do not want it to be money wasted. We have put so much time into this goal/dream. We have sacrificed time with our families for this career and life. Tears fall freely when you want something so much. All the studying we can do is in no way enough to successfully pass with pride. What ever you can do will be greatly appreciated

I am so frustrated and pissed off with my nursing program. The racism has gotten out of control. Also the treatment that they give all students that they have notions about and have targeted makes me sick. I am doing very well in my program and a group of students and I want to go to the dean and even the president of the school..so they can investigate our program. But there is no reason why I should fear that the professors are going to tamper with my grade if they found out. I dont know what to do. This program is very militant and its getting out of hand. The way my nursing departmentf handles things is very unethical. Any advice? How can I avoid being one of the targets? I am a minority...but one of the lucky ones because "they like me". Thanks.

barefootlady, ADN, RN · May 1, 2005

Racism was rampant when I was in LPN school and reared its head again in RN school. We did not know that our school was being investigated for complaints, we could see there were no black students in the program, but we did not know how many or if any had tested for the LPN program since it was done over a weeks period of time. Later we found out there had been a consistant effort to keep blacks out. In the years the program was in exsistance only 5 black students made it through. There were only 2 males in all of that time. While in RN school, the few blacks who were in our class were not allowed to progress as quickly as many of the other students, at first, we were all too afraid to voice our concerns, finally, a visit to the President of the school and a visit to the BON took care of most of the problems. I just want to say this was over 25 years ago, one school no longer exists and the other has no problems. The Dean of Nursing is black now and she would never allow things to go backwards.

Tweety, BSN, RN · May 1, 2005

There are resources for victums of racism in our society and it should not be tolerated. Report it to the dean of the school, the NAACP, the local newspapers, etc. Blatent racism that's out of control as you state should not be tolerated.

I'm amazed at the above that the males got extra points and the females didn't. That should not be tolerated either.

MryRose · May 1, 2005

first off, i have not read any of the other mess. yet.... what u are going thru, i have been and still am... i sent a letter to the dean of instructors about my program... send the letter thru an e-mail account with out ur name, like yahoo. write the mail and do not go into detail... just explain... it is thier job to investigate the events going on in the program. nursing schools feel like they are not apart of any school. i sent an e-mail, the instructor's thought anyother student sent it b/c she went and talked with the dean, and she might fail this semester.... and i and others hang out with her. my instructor told me that i was going to stop hanging out with her IF i was to continue in the program.... what to do? what ever u do... do not put ur name out there.... instrutors grade very subjectivly... thus can fail u if they want to. be careful. let the dean respond to ur mail and they will... just be careful!!! i cannot stress this enough. i pray that i do not fail b/c of what i have done. ur not being a coward for not giving your name,,, ur covering ur but and all the hard work u have done.. here is the letter i wrote....... it's long, but might give u more of an outline of what TO say........
hope this helps you. good luck and be careful....
dean,
blank has always been a wonderful place to gain great knowledge, make long lasting friendships, and have a degree that they are proud of receiving. This past fall semester i started the RN program. I am now in the second semester of the program. There are many concerns that others and I have concerning the nursing program that need to be brought to your attention. In hopes that you can correct to some degree the problems will bring great relief to the students, future students, and health care community that will be served through the program. I understand that all new programs have there problems whether it be _____ or another College, university, and/or school. Getting accredited is very important to -----, and to everyone that is/has invested time into the program. Ms. , Ms. , and Ms. have been pleaded with over our concerns to no avail. Please understand that I am not alone in this plea for change/help.
Blood, sweat, and tears go into a RN degree, no doubt. The people remain in this program have given blood, sweat, and tears thus far. I do fully agree that nursing school is supposed to be hard and stressful to a degree. All of time is spent studying for exams. To date, emphasis is placed on passing the NCLEX-RN exam, excluding the ability to take care of human life upon completion of the program. ----- has a great reputation so I fully expected to be taught how to be an efficient nurse/RN. I, like others, put in several hours into studying each day. I am finding it very difficult to display my knowledge through my exams because most of the exam questions are extremely advanced. Every exam is extremely advance for our knowledge thus far. Some questions do not reflect what is in the book/books or the material that we are to cover. To dispute a question we have to fill out a form and give five references to back it up. We are not allowed to see out exams once we have taken it not even by appointment. It is hard to give references on questions when they are not in the book. Past or future material is fair game for the exams. We are tested on material that is not even discussed in class one time. Most students find that it does not benefit them to study for exams. In most instances the students that do not study make a higher grade on an exam than the ones studying. We are given a CRE on a skill then tested on demonstrating the skill. We are to take a CRE on material that we have not talked about ever and have two chances to pass the CRE. If we do not pass it on the second time then we are out of the program. We are not made known how to do a skill until the day of testing for that skill. We have three chances to pass the skill or we are kicked out of the program. It is an everyday occurrence that we might be kicked out for something. The greatest majority of the courses are self-taught. Class time does not cover one-third that might be on an exam. Class time is not effective or time management of the content. Class time is a waste of time, time that we can be studying at home. Nursing school should be stressful but not this much. The schedule is changed on day-to-day bases. We are in a perpetual state of confusion. One example: Nur 251 was scheduled for Wednesday 11:30-2:30 and is now Thursday 9:00-12:00. The lab for Nur 251 was scheduled for Thursday or Friday and is now on Wednesday from 8:30-3:00. The schedule again will change when we go to clinical on February 17th. It is very difficult to work when the schedule is always changing. We all went through 'boot camp' the first semester and have twenty people left in our class out of sixty. We have no self-esteem left. We have one instructor that makes sure that we do not have any self worth. We are broken down with no building back up in sight. We are reminded every day how we might not make it through this program. We are reminded daily on how we do not have the knowledge but expected to have all knowledge for any exam. "A" students are barely passing. Exams are truly a guessing game.
I will not give you my name because I am fearful of being kicked out of the program. They cannot kick me out for writing to you but they will find a way to have me out of the program if they desire to do so. I have worked too hard to have this transpire. I trust that you understand.
It is very difficult to get into another program at this point. We would have to start over again and wait another year. I will not give up on the dream that I have had since I was young, "I will be a RN". Please help with out plea. We had to go through a lot to get into this program. We have paid a lot of money to get this degree. We do not want it to be money wasted. We have put so much time into this goal/dream. We have sacrificed time with our families for this career and life. Tears fall freely when you want something so much. All the studying we can do is in no way enough to successfully pass with pride. What ever you can do will be greatly appreciated

Not that you don't have a problem with your program, but I do not see any race issues in this complaint. It sounds like across the board it's difficult.

To the OP:

I agree that racism should not be tolerated. Should the course or instructor refer to anything of that nature, you should have recourse. Possibly contact the ACLU for advise. Unfortunately, grading can be subjective and it would be better to have an agency that is well versed to back you. It's difficult to know how the administration would react.

Posting more information would give us a better idea of how to help you.

In the meantime, hang in there!!! Do not let them win.... get your RN and be a role model for others.:)

Hugs!

MaryRose

live4today, RN · May 1, 2005

I was the only "minority" (hate that word when referring to human beings :rolleyes: ....anyhoo......I was the only "one" in my nursing rotations, and every time I got an "A" on a nutrition exam, the instructor always asked me if I thought the exams were "too easy" because students rarely made "A's" on the nutrition exams. :uhoh3: DUH?!@** :lol_hitti

The curriculum being taught about the Black race was alllll wrong, and I went to bat to get those textbooks outlawed. My efforts paid off. The students had new updated textbooks the next quarter. I found that teachers were often surprised that I "could handle the coursework so easily" when so many other "minorities" didn't make it...were weeded out in the second quarter.... :rolleyes: so I'm NOT surprised that racism still exist in the world...not just in America either....it's a global problem. :stone