End Discrimination in Nursing

It's graduation season! This means new nurses will be hitting the floor all over the country soon. However, we have a problem that needs to be addressed. One of the biggest problems in our healthcare system today is the lack of diversity, bullying and racism. The old saying "Nurses eat their young" still holds true today. In addition, Black men and women in America continue to face racial discrimination as healthcare workers. Let's Discuss!

Specialty areas like Labor and Delivery, pediatrics, NICU and more continue to perpetuate a culture of "gatekeeping" in efforts to keep minority nurses out. Should a black nurse be so lucky to make it into these areas, they are often heavily critiqued, left to figure things out on their own or given heavier workloads than others with no help, all in efforts to get them fired or force them to resign. Sadly, these racist nurses aren't just hurting the nurse, they are doing a huge disservice to the patients as well. Diversity in healthcare has been proven in multiple studies to improve patient outcomes, yet people continue to block opportunities for minority nurses.

In addition to the struggles minority nurses face, our new graduate nurses also fall victim to discrimination just for being NEW! New grad nurses have reported hearing veteran nurses openly complain about having to train them, not being helpful, and making snarky remarks when the new nurse doesn't know something. This is not how we build strong competent nurses. I'm sorry your preceptors did not extend any grace to some of you back in your day. But, you don't have to do the same to your preceptees. Let's embrace each other today and continue to, as we move forward. Not only do we deserve it, but our patients deserve the extraordinary care that comes from a strong cohesive healthcare team.