Thoughts on the prevalence of name discrimination in nursing?

[Nola009]

From what I've seen, employers want a decent level of "diversity" amongst their employees. Do you think this is really true? Have you encountered discrimination in the hiring process? If so, what actions did you take (or not)??

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

By the way, I wrote about issues surrounding our names a couple of years ago. It may or may not be an interesting read, but the link is provided below.

https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/your-name-important-794545.html

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

I live in a small city / large town. The type of place where there's only two hospital groups in control of the whole region. I guess I'm asking if having a last name that's very hard to spell or pronounce could become a real problem. If I had a lot of great nursing experience I wouldn't be as worried. The problem is that I'm still just trying to get some good experience. I follow up with my applications, ask if there is anything I could/ should be doing differently, and these hospital HR people just say "No. Keep trying." Are they just saying that? I have kept trying. I am currently working in a specialty some think is no good (LTC). I want to know how I can get a hospital to give me a chance? It's starting to feel like they have been pitching my applications as soon as they come in because I never even get to interview.

You're currently working in long term care and you don't have great experience. You don't have very much experience? Stay in long term care long enough to learn as much as you can and to become competent -- about two years. Then start looking for a job in a hospital again, and it's far more likely someone will bit on your resume -- no matter how difficult your name.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

People with black-sounding names such as Tameka, Jamal and Raheim are 50 percent less likely to receive callbacks when they submit resumes, regardless of how qualified they are.

'Black' Names A Resume Burden? - CBS News

Personally, I am a black female with a mainstream name that was popular during the Baby Boomer generation (think Carrie, Lindsay or Kelly).

Name discrimination happens on several fronts: people attempt to guess one's age based on the name. For instance, people these days do not really name their little girls Debbie, Linda, Pamela, Judith or Janet, as these names were popular a couple of generations ago.

A police detective once told me that they arrest far more black kids with "black" sounding names than they do black kids with mainstream names like John or Douglas or Carrie or Lindsay. When asked if it was bias against the kids with "black" names, he said no. "Parents who name their kids John or Carrie are more likely to be involved in their kids lives and value education and traditional success than parents who would name their kids something they made up. Involved parents means the kid is less likely to get into the kind of trouble that would involve a police detective."

Perhaps the name does have an effect on how other people treat those kids. Maybe it's just that their parents weren't really involved in their lives or interested in them. Or maybe it's both. But when I was on jury duty, I saw a lot more black kids with "black" names than with mainstream names.

I think there may be a lot of attempted age discrimination based on someone's name as well. My resume would clearly state that I have 38 years of experience which would give any recruiter a real good clue about my age. But the name at the top of the resume would not. The name is far more popular now than it was when my mother chose it.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

"Parents who name their kids John or Carrie are more likely to be involved in their kids lives and value education and traditional success than parents who would name their kids something they made up. Involved parents means the kid is less likely to get into the kind of trouble that would involve a police detective."

Interesting. I'm black with a mainstream name similar to Carrie, but people with upbringings similar to mine statistically fall short when it comes to educational attainment or traditional success.

I'm a first-generation college student whose parents didn't heavily push education or traditional success. I cannot recall ever being read to by my parents.

My father used illicit drugs on and off during my childhood, sometimes in front of me, and he also had a drinking problem. His temper was volatile while under the influence, so I witnessed some acts of domestic violence. He did not always keep a job and stayed in trouble with the law.

I was accepted to several regional universities during my senior year of high school, but both parents discouraged me from attending and instead encouraged me to enter the job market full-time.

So although my parents gave me a mainstream name instead of something they made up, they provided an unstimulating home environment that definitely did not place me on the trajectory to success. As bad as this sounds, I think my introverted personality and desire to never end up like them provided the spark to strive for better things in life.

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

It is interesting, as in my neck of the woods, diversity is everything. Our current DON, along with wanting BSN's to get to a magnet status, has gone out of the country to recruit foriegn nurses of multiple ethnicities--all in the name of diversity.

It feels like "all you privledged nurses (ie: white? supposedly rich? What does THAT even mean?) need to learn diverse cultures, work with diverse cultures, and if there's a medal or award for the most hip, welcoming, I am oh so into diverse nurses DON award, I am gonna get it. Because of my coolness factor". Fact is, that we live in a multicultural area and diversity is not a new concept, don't care if someone is any skin color, sub-cultured, teeters on the edge of quirky.....a good nurse is a good nurse.

When diversity becomes a cool factor as opposed to anything else, that is where there's an issue. Reminds me of the bussing concept of years ago.

My name is so odd that the only thing that people could assume is that I am quirky. And they would be correct. I think that I am a good nurse. Some are a bit shocked of my skin color. But why that would even be an issue, I am not so sure.

So many are seeking accolades for being diverse that it is degrading what diversity is all about.

[LL143KnB, BSN, RN]

Thank goodness I work for the hospital already because I have a very "Haitian" first and last name. I hope to get a job here when I'm a nurse as well. I would like to think that a hiring manager would look at my spotless history here, how I worked my way up through registration, than focus on my name. I have used to have a love/hate relationship with my first name when I was younger but now I love it. Plus with the advent of Facebook I see that other Haitians and even Asians have my name. Here I was thinking that I was an original . I always have people asking me to pronounce it or how I spell it. Sure it gets annoying sometimes but it can be an ice breaker too. In case you're wondering my name is a variation of Luna. My fiance is white and his last name is Dutch. When we get married I'll be racially ambiguous no one will know what I am by looking at my names :).

[ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP]

I am a black female with an unusual name (it is Croatian, I believe) and I have received nothing but compliments on it. I have worked with nurses with "ethnic" names and nurses with "mainstream" names. If an employer is going to judge me because of my name and not my degree and healthcare experience, then I don't want to work for them anyway.

[That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

DO people really look this deep as to why they aren't getting hired

[mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN]

I work at a very large teaching hospital and we have every kind of person you could imagine. It's great.

[Nola009]

DO people really look this deep as to why they aren't getting hired

Yes, people do. And yes, for a minute I was considering changing back to my old last name. There are other things I am crossing off my list of things to do too. I want and need a good job with benefits. I currently work at a place where all the nurses do is pass meds and chart. According to co policy, nurses should not even implement simple nursing measures such as a cold compress (I do when warranted, anyways, but still). I want a hospital job.

[Dranger]

People with black-sounding names such as Tameka, Jamal and Raheim are 50 percent less likely to receive callbacks when they submit resumes, regardless of how qualified they are.

'Black' Names A Resume Burden? - CBS News

Personally, I am a black female with a mainstream name that was popular during the Baby Boomer generation (think Carrie, Lindsay or Kelly).

Name discrimination happens on several fronts: people attempt to guess one's age based on the name. For instance, people these days do not really name their little girls Debbie, Linda, Pamela, Judith or Janet, as these names were popular a couple of generations ago.

To add on to that "normal" names that were popular 20ish years ago are falling by the wayside. Jessica, Joseph, Matthew, John, Nicholas, Jennifer, James, Amy etc etc are all falling out of favor.

Everyone is trying to either bring back names from the 1800s or simply be unique or different/hipster. If you look at the most common names for this year there are truly some odd ones. Khaleesi (think Game of Thrones TV show/book) is now in the running for one of the top female names....

My GF works M/B and I truly feel sorry for some of the kids when they grow up....

Ugh

[wooh, BSN, RN]

I think your applications being ignored have less to do with your name and more to do with a lack of experience and already looking for another job when you have hardly any time in at your current one.