Those who go into nursing often make major sacrifices to help others. They work long shifts, giving up weekends and holidays with their families. They expose themselves to violent individuals when they work at the emergency room or viral infections during the flu season.
As if all of the threats inherent in a nursing job weren’t concerning enough, nurses also have to deal with racial discrimination on the job. They may have to deal with co-workers or even patients who treat them poorly or make them uncomfortable when all they want to do is to support the medical recovery of their patients.
How frequently do racial discrimination issues arise in the workplace for modern nurses?
A majority of nurses report some kind of racial discrimination
Medical professionals typically agree to help others, even those who openly hate them. Although it is an ethical obligation to treat even the most abusive patient, nurses should not have to endure abuse or a hostile work environment because of their race.
Nurses in different fields of practice have different experiences, but many of them report experiencing harassment or discrimination related to their racial background. A survey by the American Nurses Association revealed that a shocking 63% of responding nurses had experienced some kind of racism in the workplace.
The discrimination may come from supervisors and coworkers, which accounts for a significant percentage of the harassment and discrimination reported, or it can also come from patients. Many of these nurses reported taking the proper steps to ask their employer for help, and more than half that made reports indicated there were no changes made or actions taken by their employers.
How do you fight racial discrimination?
Employers have an obligation to intervene when a nurse reports racial discrimination whether the perpetrator is a patient or one of their teammates. People should not make jokes at your expense because of your racial background, nor should they treat you differently than they treat people from the same race as themselves.