Role Of Racism In Nursing

The “American Ideal” of “Looksism” is what society says we are supposed to look like, the “white Anglo-Saxon Protestant ideal” (Day & Schiele, 2013, p. 14). An example of this is the Barbie doll. She is tall, skinny, white, blonde hair and blue eyed. This is the doll that little girls grow up wanting to look like because society is teaching them that this is the ideal. Otherism is the use of “stereotypes to objectify those who are different from ‘us’” (Day & Schiele, 2013, p. 15). If someone does not fit the ideal they are considered not normal or bad. An example of this is objectifying a whole race; by saying the Mexicans are stealing White jobs. While this is untrue, the Mexican heritage is different from the white Anglo-Saxon ideals, so some see it as bad and are threatened by it, thus creating this racist stereotype.

In this essay, I will discuss several issues that seem to bind nursing practice with questions of ethics, sociology and management. Reflective practice is an important aspect of nursing management and in this essay we discuss implications of discrimination in nursing care and examine the importance of anti-discriminatory perspectives in nursing. In this paper, the case study I will elaborate is of an elderly woman who was of a non-British ethnic origin and spoke little English. A junior nurse visited her home to provide care but her attitude towards the patient has been discriminatory and abrupt, a situation that calls for serious reflection on the issues of racial discrimination at the clinical setting. The patient was

profession and should be respected as such. Congruent with nursing stereotypes comes gender roles. Naturally, women are the care-takers thus the profession is predominately female, but it should be noted that this predisposition of women taking on this role has too altered the perception of nursing. “Although the number of men in nursing is growing, campaigns and targeted recruitments should be displayed more often to draw more men into the profession” (Cohen 2007).

From the PowerPoint, Culturally Congruent Nursing Care Application to Family and Health, I learned what culture is and that it is a process. The number of immigrants in the United States is increasing and by 2050, it is predicted that they will make up over half the population. I also learned current immigration trends in Minnesota (Schoon, 2016). A trend I found to be interesting, “14% of immigrants hold an advanced degree, compared to 11% of US-born born adults” (Schoon, 2016, slide 9). When I say, culture is a process I mean that it is something you can learn (enculturation), acquire (acculturation), give up one and take a different (assimilation), or take two or more (biculturalism) (Schoon, 2016). Culture shapes family life by influencing

In Meet the Parents starring Ben Stiller plays a role as a nurse, Ben walks into the kitchen and is meets the family of his girlfriend, Pam. Pam introduces her sister’s fiancé, who is an M.D, and his father who is a Plastic Surgeon. When Ben tells them he is in nursing, they start laughing and say, “No, really what do you do?” They continue to ask him why he did not go for being a doctor instead of staying a nurse. He replies, “Nursing was just a better fit for me.” In many movies, the male nurse is made fun of simply because nursing is for women and being a Doctor is for men. Many men fight the stereotype, as being known as a gay-male-nurse. Many have believed that men should take the one extra step and become a Doctor, simply because it is manlier. Statistics have shown 9.6% of nurses are males, and that number continues to grow every year (USA Today). We could have the most outstanding, most caring, skilled, male nurses in the world, but most will not come forward, the reason being they do not want to be terrorized, since they settled at being just a nurse and nothing more. In the article one male nurse, Ryan McFarland claims, “This job is manly, simply because you must have the stomach for it; you must be able to handle moving residents from one bed to another, helping using bedpans, wrapping bandages and so much more. (USA Today). Bishop claims that this job is not just for the women who have caring hearts but as well as for the men in this

The nursing profession has many stereotypes, both negative and positive. I decided to choose a stereotype that has been portrayed in our culture and society for some time regarding this profession. When people hear nurse they tend to immediately think of it as a female occupation. This has been portrayed and implanted into societies mind due to the media through films, pictures, TV, and art.

Despite these horrific ordeals faced by Blacks, disparities in healthcare are progressing and the gaps in healthcare equality are closing between Whites. Contemporary nursing continues to evolve wherefore the patient’s care is from a holistic standpoint, establishing that in order to provide excellent health care the person’s culture and care practices need to be considered. The plight of the participants in the Tuskegee Syphilis study were not in vain; social policy and legislation has since been put in place to prevent such atrocities from ever happening again.

According to the latest survey by the United States Census Bureau, there are about 330,000 male nurses in America. However, there are approximately 3.5 million nurses total, which means that only nine percent of people in this profession are men; the percentage has increased 6.9 percent in the last forty years. I believe that both genders should have the option of becoming a nurse. Males pursuing the nursing profession is sometimes frowned upon, since society has a negative stigma that males should be doctors if they enter the health field. This harmful stereotype causes unnecessary hesitation for men wanting to become a nurse and makes them feel judged. Male nurses can supply strength for tasks that many female nurses do not possess, and

The 2012 National Healthcare Disparities Report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality continued to show that minority groups and low-income individuals were falling behind in availability and excellent healthcare when compared to other groups. The prediction is that there will be an accelerated increase with minorities by 2060. For the first time in United States history, the minority will become the majority in 2043 (Phillips & Malone, 2014). With these expectations, it is quite evident there is a need for an increase in diversity in the healthcare system. The purpose of this post is to explore the definition of diversity, the benefits, and barriers to diversity in

Discrimination in healthcare is an ethical issue that is seen but is not primarily discussed, and is over looked. Discrimination is defined as “making a difference in treatment or favor on a class or categorical basis while disregarding individual merit, also acting on basis of prejudice and the denial of equal opportunity” ( Dienemann, 1997). Working in healthcare for 20+ years, I have experienced and witnessed discrimination among healthcare workers and as well clients. The behaviors and attitudes towards clients from other ethnic groups by nurses and clinicians is increasing in the health care system but it is not being addressed. Is it fair that clients be judged by their ethnicity and not receive the best

There are different situations that may arise in nursing with regards to racism. There may be nurse-patient racism, patient-nurse racism, patient-patient racism, and nurse-nurse racism. All of these types of scenarios that may present themselves do not result in the best care for a client. Being exposed to racism in the health care field can lead to stress related to making ethical decisions. A racist mind-set may be articulated through negative remarks about culturally different clients. Shaha (1998) states that According to Leininger, nurses’ ethnocentric attitudes towards culturally different clients may result in difficulties in nurse–client relationships. Such difficulties may have an ethical–moral dimension. In maintaining an ethnocentric attitude towards these clients, nurses may violate their dignity and autonomy (Leininger, 1991 as cited by Shaha, 1998). In the first type of scenario, if a nurse is racist towards a patient they may not take their cultural beliefs or rituals seriously, which my damage the trust you have with that patient. A nurse needs to be culturally aware when dealing with different races. Leninger (1991) describes it best when she writes that transcultural nursing is a comparative study of cultures to understand similarities (culture universal) and differences (culture-specific) across human groups. Furthermore, Leininger (1999) illustrates that our biases and prejudice usually come

Changes in the nursing profession are a continuous cycle of upheaval and reevaluation. The demands on healthcare will continue to expand as the world advances with new technologies, an older population, sicker patients, and, a growing immigrant population. As nurses progress into the 21st Century, the development of new models of education will arise to meet the demands of chronic sicknesses along with the growing diversity in America. More pressures will be placed on nurses, as they adjust to the constant changes in technology and the demands of sicker patients. Immigrant are dramatically growing in America, therefore more education about cultural diversity is needed in nursing schools. In order for any profession to grow, more education is needed.

Another essential point to balancing the rights of pediatricians and patients, the professional pedigree of pediatricians are not present in racist situations, thus patients should not judge based on race, gender or culture. One thing that becomes important is that pediatricians are equipped with the skills necessary to enforce their profession and their hardworking efforts could be shown in their vocation. According to Gil-Gonzales (2014) “racism can also be perpetrated by social organizations and institution through practices or policies that do not apply an equality-based approach” (para. 1). Therefore, hospitals and patients should be aware of the issue, which may result in a pessimistic effect on the quality of life and the society established.

I took the time today to read the article titled “What is Race” by Victor M. Fernandez, RN, BSN and found myself agreeably intrigued and in admiration of his thoughts regarding race. Victor touched on an extremely insightful and significant topic; one that most people have sturdy opinions about. Race – what is it? What does this mean to you? What does it mean to our upcoming careers in the nursing field? I trust that how we characterize and assess our awareness of race is due exclusively to how we were raised. I do not mean merely what we were taught from our family or culture about race, but to a certain extent how we have lived it, and how it has lived around us. “Race is a modern idea. Ancient societies, like the Greeks, did not divide

Now in days you see more males nurses than before, in the nursing field. Having male nurses can be beneficial, but then again some people tend to refuse them. The public know male nurses as to not being productive or effective as female nurses. Others think the opposite; perhaps they have experienced a bond with male nurses. Male nurses can make certain patients feel comfortable. In some cases men are necessary when nurses need that extra physical strength. Also it may seem stereotype, but men tend to be less attractive to gossip. Men nurses tend to miss less work days than female nurses. All of these points are beneficial to the nurse field, on the other hand, there also some disadvantages for men when it comes to being a nurse.