Risk for Social Isolation

Moogie · Sep 22, 2009

Yes, I am Afr. Amer, I myself haven't experienced this type of behavior, but I have a friend that has and I see it. There is a mexican man in my class that speaks w/ a heavy accent, there r all kinds of snickers & sighs when he speaks, but he has no problem raising his hand & saying whats on his mind.

The story about your classmate brings back a memory of an incident that occurred when I was in grad school. My class was fairly homogenous---mostly women, almost all Caucasian, mostly late-twenties to mid-thirties, most from the Midwest, most financially well-off in they worked for the same employer who paid well and had generous tuition-reimbursement policies. One woman in the class, however, didn't seem to have much money as her clothes weren't as nice as the other students'. She was Caucasian but recently moved from the South, so she had a very strong accent and spoke more slowly than the rest of us. And just as you described, most of the class sighed and snickered or looked extremely bored when she spoke. One day after class, she and I were talking and she mentioned how poorly she felt she was being treated; she felt that the other students looked upon her as being (pardon the expression) "trailer trash". In fact, she was smart and funny, someone I would have liked very much to know better except that I never saw her again after that class. I wonder if she dropped out because of the way in which she was treated.

Frankly, as an instructor, I would not tolerate anyone making fun of another student for any reason. The snickers and sighs are signs of horizontal hostility and if these students are acting in a passive-aggressive manner while in nursing school, Heaven help the staff who will have to work with them someday!

Back to the OP, you asked how to deal with clinical instructors who are "mean, conservative, old-fashioned people". I'm not sure exactly what you mean by this, either. Are you talking about instructors who have very strict standards, maybe more strict than their peers? Do you mean instructors who yell at students in private or in front of patients or other students? Do you mean instructors who are blatantly racist? A mean instructor is not good---although some are perceived as mean when in fact they have high standards and want to make sure students perform their skills correctly. Others are perceived as mean because they're not approachable or seem intimidating. An old-fashioned instructor---I'm not sure what you mean by that---if you mean someone who is not accepting of male students, that's a problem. If you mean someone who complains about technology such as computerized charting or having students learn the Pyxis, that's can be a problem, too. Conservative---some instructors might be conservative in that they go by the book---otherwise, I'm not sure what you mean by that, either. Again, a racist instructor is someone who should not be teaching. Period. Unfortunately, some instructors are racist and it would have to be very difficult to be a member of an ethnic minority had have to deal with someone like that.

wife&mommyRN · Sep 22, 2009

moogie,

your situation with the lady in class brings my attention to another point i must add, many ppl don;t realize discrimination isn't based independently on race/ culture. many of the students in my class won't interact with students beyond the 20s category regardless of race. in addition ppl tend to shy away from mothers/ married women. & ppl wonder where these "cliques" come from. racism has manifested into something beyond all of our control that as a result puts everyone @ risk of being discriminated against or socially isolated @ some time in their life. i haven't encountered any "racist" professors, sometimes that word is used loosely, there are certain professors that i think hold certain stereotypes/ biases. i think the difference is that those types of ppl are educated enough to put their biases/ stereotypes aside & accept that they were wrong. i think sometimes ppl want to play the victim, but in reality may be contributing to the same problems that they are now faced with. every1 needs to monitor their actions because u never know when the shoe will be placed on the other foot. jmo :twocents:

nat_myria · Sep 22, 2009

I guess I understand things better now. Thank you all for your advices and support. I will keep you all update on how things are going. Another thing is that sometimes when I'm in class I just don't feel welcomed, I mean my clinical instructor doesn't make me feel welcomed. I would try to talk to her and make conversation but she doesn't seem to care to get to know me. The classmates are the same. Some ppl may say who cares but for me I care because I think if we are in the same class knowing each other better might help us work better together. There was this one time when I was working on a project with 3 other classmates. whenever I suggest something they would just look at me and say nothing, but then went ahead and ask someone else in the group for the answer. I feel kinda bad when they do that. Are my ideas stupid or because they thought I wasn't as smart as them. This makes me mad sometimes because I know I do better on the exams than they do. cause one of those girls I was talking about is someone i knew, and she didn't move on with nursing because she didn't past the exam. So I know for a fact that my ideas are not stupid but is because I'm not white so they didn't care to ask me. I'm sorry if I offended anyone but that is the truth.

Take care

Majestica · Jan 30, 2011

I am black and I recently started working in a hospital. I am also a new grad. So I had to have a preceptor for 3 momths. She and some of the other white nurses have acted really bad to me. Nothing overt...but I heard 2 of them talking about my scrubs in a derogatory way. Also, my preceptor talks rudely to me and mimics my accent.....I do not know what to do. I feel so out of place and I feel like I cannot say much because I want to keep the job.

RooseveltERoosevelt · Jan 30, 2011

It is interesting how different things can be depending on where you are in this country. I would say just over 50% of my nursing school class was Asian- and there were definitely Asian only cliques that looked down at you if you were white. I'm also in my early 30's and have kids- another thing that alienated me from my peers (out of 40 people, there were only 2 moms). The one good thing about the mom thing is that though it made me different from my peers, it actually gave me something to have in common with my instructors. I now work on the opposite end of the country, and being white, on my floor, puts me in a very, very small minority. I would say that the majority of the time, I don't really notice any over discrimination, but I do notice favoritism among people who come from the same native country. I try my best to fit in and bring forth the little "extras" I bring to the table- for example, I'm one of only 2 Spanish-speakers on my floor, and other nurses are very grateful when I can help explain something they've been trying to tell their pt all day. Good luck in school- it definitely sounds like a tough atmosphere to be in.