Why a Philadelphia hospital gave in to a racist demand?

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Supervisors at Abington Memorial Hospital in Philadelphia have explained that they sought only to avoid a confrontation when they told African American employees to stay out of a patient's room after a man ordered that no blacks assist in the delivery of his child.

Philadelphia Inquirer, Oct. 3, 2003

NAACP wants hospital supervisors punished

Local leaders call for Abington hospital to discipline those who told minority staffers to stay out of a patient's room.

Local NAACP leaders yesterday called on Abington Memorial Hospital to discipline supervisors who told minority employees to stay out of a patient's room after a man demanded that only white staffers assist in the delivery of his baby.

( By Oliver Prichard, Inquirer Staff Writer, 10/04/2003 03:01 AM EDT)

Archived at http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/994789/posts

[SnowieRN]

Uh.. isent that the family's perogative? If I walked in and said I didnt want female employee's working on me.. that would be my choice as well? Im sorry I just dont see why everything has to be turned into a racist comment, when its his choice.

[Furball]

"A hospital needs to stand against this undercurrent of racism in our society."

The last statement say it all. If racism is accepted and allowed to thrive in this way it will never go away.....:stone

[teeituptom, BSN, RN]

Its a shame racism still exists. But unfortunately it still does. And in many other forms. Im a male nurse. Ive worked the ER for a long long time. And working ER I see racism all the time. There are cultures that want only females to take care of their female family members. If reassurances dont work, then am I going to force an issue, and take care of them against their wishes. No I dont think so. I just make a deal with one of my female workers to swap patients. easier than forcing an confrontation. Easier than being charged with assault.

Now we can try to force societies beliefs and current laws onto an individual. Maybe Im getting old now. But im too tired of hitting my head against the wall.

Ive had male patients who were severely homophobic and didnt want me putting in their foley. I just say ok, you have that right, and I make a deal with someone else. BTW IM not gay by any means.

Now in a hospital that size there is plenty of work for everyone to do together. If someone doesnt want me Im just simple enough to say, thank god, let some one else deal with that idiot.

Lot easier than forcing an confrontation, having a fight, or to subdue someone in the hospital enviroment. Maybe Im just getting too old to fight. Or maybe I just dont want to fight.

But it seems to me in this case that everyone should be mad at the individual who expressed these feelings. Rather than against whoever tried to keep potentially dangerous situation from developing in their work enviroment. Done we have enough threats already in this world without adding more.

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

I agree with Tom on this one. I think the administration did the only thing it could do in this situation, and I think that father is a despicable human being. But we nurses can't force ourselves on patients who don't want us to take care of them, no matter what the individual circumstances are---that's called assault, and last time I looked, it was a crime that can cost a nurse his or her license.

Let's face it, the world is full of uneducated, ignorant creeps like the man in question, and we can't give them ALL an attitude adjustment.

[SharonH, RN]

Interesting. This is not unique by the way. There was a situation in Tennessee a couple of years ago where a white man didn't want a black male working in the OR where his wife was undergoing open heart surgery and didn't want him to see his wife's exposed body. What a freaking moron. And then, as now, the surgeon and the hospital accomodated the racist.

Technically, it is their prerogative to have whoever they want to provide their care. But it should be their responsibility to find a hospital with a satisfactory racial makeup.

The white staff should have been outraged also at having that type of burden put on them, it sets a bad precedent. Personally I wouldn't have wanted the "honor" of taking care of them anyway.

[z's playa]

I'm with Snowie RN:rolleyes:

[Furball]

Don't you guys think that if these ignorant folks ran into walls in public places that maybe they would change their tunes?

You can be racist in your own home but here in a public hospital we don't condone those attitudes and will not bend to accommodate your racist views.

If the neuro surgeon on call is black and you come in with a skull fracture...you have a choice...be treated by the black doc or go home.

I'm sorry but this crap sucks

[fergus51]

People are entitled to a competent nurse. Not a black one, white one, christian one, etc. Giving in to this type of behavior only serves to degrade nurses further. A hospital is not a Burger King.

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

Me neither. I'm white with a little bit of everything, including Cherokee Indian and a hint of Latina, and I've taken care of bigots before.....they're actually quite prevalent in some of Oregon's smaller communities. I had one pt. who refused to allow my CNA, who was Mexican, to take his VS and insisted that I be the one to do everything for him because I was a "good American white girl". Well, I couldn't resist letting him in on the fact that I too have Hispanic blood in my veins. He didn't refuse my care, but neither did he share any more of his racist sentiments with me. Never rang the call light, either.....very subdued for the rest of my shift. Dang.

[Love-A-Nurse]

Racism through and through, both articles.

"The predicament that the Abington hospital encountered last month is not unheard of, experts said.

In 2001, maternity ward staffers at Sentara Hampton general hospital in Southeastern Virginia were accused of making similar concessions to an Aryan nation member. The man's wife required a cesarean section.

According to newspaper reports, the hospital reached an agreement with the man by arranging for its minority staffers to wear gloves, which was not normal procedure."

[taken from the second link article of Karen's post]

Yes, everyone has a right to decline care regardless of reasons, but this is just pure racism. If I didn't want a specific group taking care of me, I would delivered at home with my choice of doctors and nurses alike.

[SharonH, RN]

Quote

originally posted by love-a-nurse

Yes, everyone has a right to decline care regardless of reasons, but this is just pure racism. If I didn't want a specific group taking care of me, I would delivered at home with my choice of doctors and nurses alike.

Exactly!