Background Alongside declarations against racism, the nursing profession in Canada needs examination of experiences of racism within its ranks. Racism at multiple levels can create a context wherein racialized nurses experience barriers and ongoing marginalization. Purpose This critical interpretive qualitative study asks how interpersonal, institutional, and structural racisms intersect in the professional experiences of racialized nurses in Canada, and how nurses respond. Methods Self-identified racialized nurses (n = 13) from across Canada were recruited primarily through snowball sampling, and each was interviewed by phone or in person. Once transcribed, interviews were analyzed inductively, which led to the levels of racism as a guiding framework. Results From entry to nursing education throughout their careers participants experienced racism from instructors, patients, colleagues and managers. Interpersonal racism included comments and actions from patients, but more significantly lack of support from colleagues and managers, and sometimes overt exclusion. Institutional racism included extra scrutiny, heavier workloads, and absence in leadership roles. Structural racism included prevalent assumptions of incompetence, which were countered through extra work, invisibility and hyper-visibility, and expectations of assimilation. Racialized nurses were left to choose among silence, resisting (often at personal cost), assimilation and/or bolstering their credibility through education or extra work. Building community was a key survival strategy. Conclusions Everyone in nursing needs to challenge the culture of silence regarding racism. White nurses in particular need to welcome discomfort, listen and learn about racism, then speak out to help disrupt its normative status.
Background. Research on racism within occupational therapy is scant, though there are hints that racialized therapists struggle. Purpose. This paper examines experiences of racism in occupational therapy, including coping strategies and resistance. Method. Ten therapists from racialized groups (not including Indigenous peoples) were recruited for cross-Canada, in-person or telephone interviews. Transcripts were coded and inductively analysed, with data thematically organized by types of racism and responses. Findings. Interpersonal racism involving clients, students, colleagues and managers is supported by institutional racism when incidents of racism are met with inaction, and racialized therapists are rarely in leadership roles. Structural racism means the experiences of racialized people are negated within the profession. Cognitive sense-making becomes a key coping strategy, especially when resistance is costly. Implications. Peer supports and community building among racialized therapists may be beneficial, but dismantling structures of racism demands interrogating how whiteness is built into business-as-usual in occupational therapy.
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