Racist Patients

showbizrn · Jun 2, 2009

:cool:

one patient replied when i asked if i could help him,"no, i want the white nurse to give me my medicine." i said, "fine. i'll be glad to help you but since you don't want my help, i'll just sit here and put my feet up until the other nurse comes from her break." he replied, "no, that's okay. you can give me my medicine."

hmmmmmmm...

the thought of this african american nurse

sitting and putting

her feet up

and getting paid for it

rocked his boat. :twocents:

when patients make racist comments to me, i politely refer and defer them to another staff member when they ask for assistance. (p.s... i work in psych and this technique works miraculously)

of course, apologies are always accepted.

Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP · Jun 2, 2009

sooo, my take is basically correct? so, the person that i quoted hasnt been back to explain their take on the post....why he/she thought that was not the term being qualified as discriminatory.....actually the more i thought about it, the post in which it was considered disc. was somewhat insulting in itself......UNLESS it is a regional thing applied to asian woman were that poster is from. Which i wouldnt know......

My initial thought when I read that quote was that 'war bride' was not the racist term being used either. If the wife was Asian, specifically Japanese, the slur used was likely either 'Jap' or 'Nip' (wartime descriptors of the Japanese - and by extension for many - Asians). I hate even typing those words, as they don't reflect my sentiments at all.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jap

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nip

morte, LPN, LVN · Jun 2, 2009

My initial thought when I read that quote was that 'war bride' was not the racist term being used either. If the wife was Asian, specifically Japanese, the slur used was likely either 'Jap' or 'Nip' (wartime descriptors of the Japanese - and by extension for many - Asians). I hate even typing those words, as they don't reflect my sentiments at all.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jap
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nip

ahh, but we can only go by what she wrote.....

hypocaffeinemia, BSN, RN · Jun 2, 2009

Last fall I was doing a clinical rotation in an ER in East Texas a bit outside Houston.

Had a sweet old lady come in, stroke-like symptoms. Then she and her husband start talking about how if she doesn't die soon, the world's going to end soon anyways now that the Lord has allowed a black man to be elected President.

Sigh.

Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP · Jun 2, 2009

I encounter a kind of racism that isn't as stigmatized. I'm half Japanese, and some older people still use the racial slur used during World War II.

This is what I was going by....and yes - it would be nice to have some clarification.

My grandfather, before he died last year, still referred to people of Asian decent in the manner referred to in my previous post.

Aneroo, LPN · Jun 2, 2009

I work in LTC now and we have one CNA that isn't allowed to care for a certain resident...the CNA has bad scarring to his face and seeing him reminds the resident of a car accident that she was in thirty or forty years ago...she somehow thinks the CNA caused the accident. Anyway...when he is working we just juggle assignments a bit so he doesn't do any direct care for her and has minimal contact in the dining room, halls, etc. It is for her comfort and for his protection...she is somehow convinced that he will harm her...can you imagine the frenzy if she fell or got a bruise or anything went wrong while her was caring for her?

This reminds me of a patient we had while in LTC. White females were allowed to care for her. We had one AA male who would temp as a nurse and we'd have to go in with him for meds. She had been raped by an AA male when she was young, and she would have flashbacks (didn't help that she had dementia). She was a spunky ol' thing, and almost broke my wrist one night b/c I had my hair in a ponytail and just say short hair and assumed it was a male waking her up. However, I think her situation was different- she had a known traumatic experience that would cause her to become violent and a threat to others or herself. I can understand going with those wishes, but just for the sake of someone being a bigot or ignorant- no.

Aneroo, LPN · Jun 2, 2009

Racism comes in all colors.

For sure.

I've quit a job over the racial jokes (was too young and naive to realize I needed to report it)- and I'm white. I don't recall what was said, but it was enough to make me uncomfortable enough to leave.

LEN-RN · Jun 2, 2009

one patient replied when i asked if i could help him,"no, i want the white nurse to give me my medicine." i said, "fine. i'll be glad to help you but since you don't want my help, i'll just sit here and put my feet up until the other nurse comes from her break." he replied, "no, that's okay. you can give me my medicine."
hmmmmmmm...
the thought of this african american nurse
sitting and putting
her feet up
and getting paid for it
rocked his boat.
when patients make racist comments to me, i politely refer and defer them to another staff member when they ask for assistance. (p.s... i work in psych and this technique works miraculously)
of course, apologies are always accepted.

racist comments and attitudes happen to white nurses/staff too.

Lovely_RN, MSN · Jun 2, 2009

Really they do? :eek:

I didn't see anything posted by SB that denied that they did? Rather I think she was talking about an experience that she had at her job.

Racist comments and attitudes happen to white nurses/staff too.

LEN-RN · Jun 2, 2009

Really they do?
I didn't see anything posted by SB that denied that they did? Rather I think she was talking about an experience that she had at her job.

Sorry, I wasnt implying that, without giving examples, just stating it happens. I just smile and say I am there to do my job. And if someone COMPLETELY refuses, I do the same, make the suggestion of getting someone else, and of course letting them know the other nurse is busy and there will be wait.

I stand up for, and stand by all of my fellow workers, nurses, aides, housekeeping, dietary. If someone makes prejudice, demeaning remarks against ANYONE, I address it. I stay and help aides change, dress, or feed nasty, hateful, prejudice patients. I think by allowing a hateful patient to refuse help from certain people EMPOWERS them. During the care that I help with, I am not friendly to the patient, just act professional to the patient, but I show my comraderie and respect for the aide, or nurse. Sometimes we laugh and joke around in front of the patient. I want the patient to know THEY ARE WRONG. And I do not let nasty comments go unaddressed.

I will accompany anyone to a room whenever needed. If it is a housekeeper, I will help her clean up the room. My interaction is with the housekeeper, NOT the patient. The housekeeper and I leave at the same time.

I think we all need to do this. We all need to stick together.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jun 2, 2009

racist comments and attitudes happen to white nurses/staff too.

i wish i had a dollar for every time i've been called a "white *word-that-means-female-dog*" or a "fat white *word-that-means-female-dog" or even a "racist white *bad word referring to female genitalia*". in our society, it doesn't seem to be regarded as a racist remark unless it's directed at a minority. yet in my city, whites are a minority!

i will never forget a very famous case in washington state several years ago. the "hate crimes" law had just been put into effect, upping the sentence for anyone committing a crime with racial motivations. during the fat tuesday revels that year, a young white man was beaten to death with a brick. the police had the crime on videotape, clearly revealing the victim, the assailant, and the crime. the assailant, a young black man was chanting over and over "i'm gonna kill me a whitey. i'm gonna kill me a white boy." while convincted of murder, the crime did not meet the higher standard of being a hate crime. why? because the victim was white and the convicted killer was black. it seems to me that if you're going to call a thing racist, you ought to call it that no matter what color the victim and the perpatrater. otherwise the law protects one race above another and is in itself a racist law.

NiaSmith · Jun 2, 2009

"i wish i had a dollar for every time i've been called a "white *word-that-means-female-dog*" or a "fat white *word-that-means-female-dog" or even a "racist white *bad word referring to female genitalia*". in our society, it doesn't seem to be regarded as a racist remark unless it's directed at a minority. yet in my city, whites are a minority!

i will never forget a very famous case in washington state several years ago. the "hate crimes" law had just been put into effect, upping the sentence for anyone committing a crime with racial motivations. during the fat tuesday revels that year, a young white man was beaten to death with a brick. the police had the crime on videotape, clearly revealing the victim, the assailant, and the crime. the assailant, a young black man was chanting over and over "i'm gonna kill me a whitey. i'm gonna kill me a white boy." while convincted of murder, the crime did not meet the higher standard of being a hate crime. why? because the victim was white and the convicted killer was black. it seems to me that if you're going to call a thing racist, you ought to call it that no matter what color the victim and the perpatrater. otherwise the law protects one race above another and is in itself a racist law."

i definately see where you're coming from, 2 of my closest friends are white females and the stuff they deal with is even worse than some of the things i've dealt with as far as racist people. one of them drives the city bus and so many ignorant people call her all types of names that all include white*insert bad word here*, for instance if she tells someone thay can't get on the bus for a perfectly logical reason like not having shirt/shoes on or for not having their correct fare, she gets cursed out, threatened, and called racist if the person is not white like her, not knowing she was married to a black man for 10 years and has 3 bi-racial daughters at home and she's just a nice person overall