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)
ok now i'll try this one more time.... sigh...a hospital is paid to employ competent, qualified people to fill their positions. If they start to cater to demands of irrational people (ie. people who would refuse the care of competent qualified persons for no other reason than that they just don't like them) then equal employment opportunities could be greatly affected. If there is a hospital in a community with a lot of prejudice against minorities (or gays or disabled persons) and these prejudiced people are allowed to pick and choose who they want working for them in a public institution, then guess what? it is not going to be cost effective for administration to hire minorities, gays, disabled people. Why hire them if a lot of people won't accept them as their care providers? THIS is exactly why this is a bad idea! And don't fool yourself into thinking that there aren't that many people out there who would choose not to be cared for by minorities. There are plenty of people who would be doing this if they knew/thought they could get away with it! and as for private interaction making the difference between asking for different nurse and asking for a different bus driver, pilot etc. whatever people don't expect to get different workers to help them because they know from experience that it's not going to happen. Why should a hospital be any different. If you don't want someone of a differing race looking at your fun parts hire a private duty nurse or stay home. People can be racist or make it their religion or whatever, i don't care but they should not expect others to put themselves out to accomodate their nonsense. IT SETS A PRECENDENT! People will get away with whatever they are allowed to. When you start the ball rolling its pretty hard to stop it.
Just a question to anyone who thinks this was the patient's choice.... I'm white, can I specify only to take care of white people with white families??? Is that my choice as well???
I hope I never have to deal with this! But, let's say I was one of those supervisors. I think my instinct would be to tell the family that hospital policies do not allow me to change pt assignments due to racial prejudices, to notify the chain of command, and to speak with all the employees on the shift, describe the situation, and, if a black employee was assigned to that pt., let them make the choice as to wether they wished to deal with that pt or not. Would that be a good way to deal with it?
I do not support any form of discrimination. My question is, what is the best way to protect our fellow employees ? For example, if I assigned a male nurse to a female pt against her wishes, I would be afraid he could be subject to false accusations of sexual harassment. Now, my male gynecologist protects himself from this situation by always having a female assistant present during exams. But, I've never worked in a situation where we've had enough staff to do that kind of thing. What's the best way to prevent nurses from being victimized while at the same time not supporting racism or other forms of discrimination?
Specializes in Geriatrics, Pediatrics, Home Health.
bjpeace
No you do not have a choice. You work in a public hospital and as a part of your agreement you are required to nurse ANYONE who walks in the door. However, if [for example] your ex mother in law needed treatment, YOU could request that someone else be her nurse. You could also refuse to nurse someone who reminded you of the man who raped you or someone in your family.
We all discriminate every day. We choose to eat in one resturant over another. We choose who we will associate with. We even choose where and for whom we will work.
We live in a free country and we have the right to choose and discriminate. The problem I am seeing is we have somehow gotten the idea that all discrimination is wrong. That simply isn't true. There are all kinds of reasons to discriminate.
Again this is just my opinion, but consider this, if you will. Why are we up in arms about a white man requesting that a person of color not come into his wife's room? If it had been a Black man requesting that white personal stay out of his wife's room, would we be as upset? I don't think we would, simply because the media has convinced us the white people are evil oppressors who are trying to keep minorities in their place.
"We all discriminate every day. We choose to eat in one resturant over another. We choose who we will associate with. We even choose where and for whom we will work. "
I am a 22 year old African Amerian woman. There is nothing that I can do about it. I cant change my age, my skin color, or my gender. I am proud of my culture and my heritage and I do not feel ashamed to be who I am. It just so happens that I chose to earn a bachelors degree from a well respected Univerisity and to be employed at a prestigious NYC hospital as a registered nurse. (YES I do have to throw that in because from my experience, I find myself always having to prove to white people that I am "worthy" since I am considered "just" a young, black, woman). Personally I have to leave my home with a "shield" from racist bigots and the high level of ignorance that is allowed to exist in our society. My education and open mind allows me to see life on a higher level.
I do believe that patients have rights, but so do the hospital employees. We must demonstrate respect for our patients views and wishes but we must not perpetuate ignorance and racist views. As soon as administration starts hand picking heath care workers based on ethnicity it is blatant discrimination and that is a violation of Anti-Discrimination laws just about everywhere.
Approaching 2004 and we are still in need of making "policies" for dealing with discrimination. Once again, I learn that ignorance is so very rampant in America.
Specializes in Geriatrics, Pediatrics, Home Health.
kbaker
CONGRATULATIONS on your degree!!! You are far ahead of me, I just started my first semester in an ADNursing program. WHile I don't have much experience in a hospital setting yet, I do have experience with life. It makes me SO mad to see racism and to hear people say that there is something wrong with [pick your minority] just because they are different.
I tell them to look in the mirror, not one person on the face of God's green Earth is the same. I know that hate is here to stay and no amount of legislation is going to change how people think and feel. So, what can we, as concerned citizens do?
I have been discriminated agains because 1.) I am female; 2.) I am an auto mechanic. 3.) I know car parts. Yet when I go to certain auto stores , they treat me like crap, because of the above. There was a kid in my husband's class who asked him how he could "let me be and auto mechanic." Needless to say, I don't go the that store anymore. They are the cheapest place in town too.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to educate people on this stuff?
The hospital took the easy way out! Snowie if the nurse was negligent or incompetent then yes it would be the patient's choice. Attempting to justify racism is why it still exists today. It would be no different if an African American refused to let caucasian nurses care for them, it would still be racism. I have come across the same type of sitatuation where patients say they don't want a specfic type of nurse (not based on their skill) and the response has basically been, unless you brought your own nurse WITH you, you will be cared for by the nursing staff that is on duty.
I have been an RN for 23 years and despite wearing clear identification, have been called a housekeeper, an aide, etc, anything other than a nurse. I have been a nurse manager for 15 years and in that time I have had contractors come in to be introuduced and automatically they assume that whatever white person was in the group was Ms Elder, or have questions addressed to the white housekeeper rather than myself even though I am sitting behind the desk and she is holding a mop... etc. Think about how you would feel if it were you, being judged by the color of your skin, rather than your professional qualifications...
You are far ahead of me, I just started my first semester in an ADNursing program. WHile I don't have much experience in a hospital setting yet, I do have experience with life. It makes me SO mad to see racism and to hear people say that there is something wrong with [pick your minority] just because they are different.
BarbPick
780 Posts
Race is not mentioned on my license. A Nurse is a Nurse. You need a Nurse, you get a licensed one. Period!