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)
I just wanted to interject, that as surprising as it may sound, the surrounding area of Philadelphia is one of the largest congregations in the US of active KKK members.
Hiya We_Rm, Can you truly sat the supervisors dropped the ball here, Now Ive read your post several times. Im a RN of many years. I am also a Former supervisor of many years experience. One thing I never would do is to force an issue, all you can do is lose there. Now if they had forced the issue there and sent a nurse of color in to care for thr patient and to uphold the professionalism of minority nurses. Suppose things had escalated to the point of violence despite having safeguards in place. And that nurse had the been assaulted and injured. I fail to see where that would have been better.
I As a supervisor over the years have been forced to make many accomodations. My main concern has always been not only pt safety but also the SAFETY of the nurses that were under my supervision and guidance. And in that course of being a protactor to these nurses I have recieved several injuries. Including cracked ribs, lacs, bruises,bites.
Dont supervisors have a responsibility to protect their staff against wackos of all breeds whether its drug induced craziness, racism, ignorance or whatever. Maybe its because Im male and have always felt part of my job was to protect my coworkes.
I cant right the wrongs in society and I wouldnt try to, Im not smart enough. Im just a simple old country boy.
SO...... This is to the new moms and dads..........
raise your children WELL. Teach them to accept people of all colors. Respect others as you would want the same respect .
We are all individuals with something unique in all of us
Haveaniceday--you are EXACTLY right. We all need to do this. I plan to raise me daughter the same way I was raised-without all the bullsh*t stereotypes and biases that lead to racism,homophobia,sexism,etc. How will it ever stop if we don't ALL put an end to it?
I think that if the patient and family don't want certain nurses caring for them then they should be given AMA papers and told to go find someplace else. That is just unexcusable.
I can't imagine why the supervisors just didn't say we have a policy and state that policy to the dad and leave it at that. If he didn't agree then he could leave, and if he did agree but then showed any signs of rambunctious behaivior call 911 and security immediately. These fools need to realize that they live in the real world and aren't going to be handled with kid gloves all the time.
"Suppose things had escalated to the point of violence despite having safeguards in place. And that nurse had the been assaulted and injured. I fail to see where that would have been better. "
I disagree....imagine the civil rights movement if people were kowtowed by fear. Rosa Parks never would have taken her rightful seat on that bus if she were afraid of confrontation. Would there be as much progress as we do have without these brave people? Sometimes you need to push the issue or at least not bend your moral code. If someone assaulted a nurse because of his/her race then that person should be arrested and thrown in jail. It's just wrong to lower ourselves to racist attitudes.
If bigots ran into walls with their attitudes out in public that made their lives difficult maybe they would rethink their moronic ways.
had this been a black family requesting/insisting that only black staff attend the birth.... how much "accomodating" would this hospital.. or ANY hospital for that matter...have done? Any guesses?
Would they have bent over backwards to accomodate? Or would they have been laughed out of the hospital?
I think it's awful that in this day and age there is still people like this. i see it in the LTC facility I work at I don't want a women and don't want a man.
Color or nationality don't seem as prevalent.
I think that as long as a person performs there job with competence it should not matter
but there a still people who are ignorant
I say get over it.
I wonder if his child needed a kidny or heart would they ask if the donor was white/black etc. I think not
I am currently a nursing supervisor and have been for 15 of my 21 years of nursing. I make it a point to know facility policy and to follow it. That keeps me from being called on the carpet.....most of the times. In this case I would have "spread the wealth" and discusses the matter with administration.
A situation like this one is, thankfully, rare and needs to be handled carefully. Bringing administration in may have prevented some of the problems Abington is now having and would have given the supervisor backup for what is a difficult situation. Many times problems must be handled on a level higher than that of a shift supervisor in order for a solution to be found and to contain any potential dammage to the facility. Decisions that may have prevented the current bad publicity and hurt feelings need to be made at a level hire than that of a shift supervisor.
In my 15 years as a supervisor I have never once had a superior upset that I consulted them on a matter that was potentialy dammaging to the facility. Administrators want to be kept informed and expect me to recognize situations that warrent their intervention. Following the chain of command I would have brought others in to help solve the problem. Remember the supervisor now has to go back and live with the decision he or she made, meaning having to deal with the co-workers affected and the fallout that has resulted. Abington Administration appears to be reasonable and will not terminate the supervisors in question. That tells me that they are supportive, maybe calling on that support would have resulted in a better outcome.
I live and work in Australia an have worked in Aboriginal comunities for a few years. I now work on the mainland where the is still a high proprtion of indigenous clients.
I respect the idigenous people's beliefs that there is Mens's Business, and Women's business, (unless this is unavoidable ina an emergency situation).
This is not giving in to racism, it is practicing cultural sensitivity. Many Aboriginal cultures here speak many languages and English may come 3rd or 4th. Men and women have designated relationships which are often crossed by "white" nurses, both male and female when dealing with Indigenous clients.
I deplore what happend in the lead article of the thread but I too have seen this happen in a large hospital where the patient refused to be attended by "black" nurses (Indians) in ICU! The hospital at the the time kept it quiet because the patient's daughter was a high profile politician.
Please keep the cultural sensitivity but don't call it racism. You can't change the culture of 40 or 50,000 yrs to suit your own needs, you hae to adapt.
colleen10
1,326 Posts
I just wanted to interject, that as surprising as it may sound, the surrounding area of Philadelphia is one of the largest congregations in the US of active KKK members.