How Nurses Come to Race

Abstract

This research study shows how race becomes ascribed through nursing theory and day-to-day workplace socialization processes. We show how public health nurses supporting and promoting breastfeeding for new mothers learn about and reproduce racialized stereotypes, which shape the care they provide. Even when nurses attempt to actively resist racialized stereotypes, most participate in essentialized nursing practice by using racialized institutional practices. Nursing theory needs to expand to help the nurse navigate and understand both the nurses' and client's local histories as well as individual-to-systems level constraints and supports that may impede, or promote, a mother's ability to breastfeed.

Looking through racism in the nurse–patient relationship from the lens of culturally congruent care: A scoping review

“…They were labelled as clients who could not get integrated into social values, and were subject to racist remarks. Education in terms of hidden curricula and by learning from others when nurses worked in healthcare settings established racist stereotypes and attitudes towards patients (McFadden & Erikson, 2020; Purtzer & Thomas, 2019).…”

“…Instead of assessing patients' cultural and ethnic backgrounds and investigating their cultural identities, nurses guessed on patients' cultural characteristics and needs based on their habits and last names to plan healthcare interventions (McFadden & Erikson, 2020). Failure to follow‐up nurses' health‐related advice, patients' socio‐economic factors and stereotypical attitudes developed by patients themselves towards their own physical and mental in‐capabilities enhanced racial distortions among nurses (McFadden & Erikson, 2020; Purtzer & Thomas, 2019).…”

“…Education in terms of hidden curricula and by learning from others when nurses worked in healthcare settings established racist stereotypes and attitudes towards patients(McFadden & Erikson, 2020;Purtzer & Thomas, 2019).From a micro-perspective, bias and stereotypical attitudes leading to racist behaviours rooted in nurses' personal perspectives towards ethnic minorities who had limited language proficiencies and substance dependencies, and suffered from mental illness(Debesay et al, 2021;Lyles et al, 2011;McFadden & Erikson, 2020;Purtzer & Thomas, 2019). Instead of assessing patients' cultural and ethnic backgrounds and investigating their cultural identities, nurses guessed on patients' cultural characteristics and needs based on their habits and last names to plan healthcare interventions(McFadden & Erikson, 2020). Failure to follow-up nurses' health-related advice, patients' socio-economic factors and stereotypical attitudes developed by patients themselves towards their own physical and mental in-capabilities enhanced racial distortions among nurses(McFadden & Erikson, 2020;Purtzer & Thomas, 2019).On the other hand, patients' racism towards nurses was revealed in the experiences of nurses.…”

“…Instead of assessing patients' cultural and ethnic backgrounds and investigating their cultural identities, nurses guessed on patients' cultural characteristics and needs based on their habits and last names to plan healthcare interventions(McFadden & Erikson, 2020). Failure to follow-up nurses' health-related advice, patients' socio-economic factors and stereotypical attitudes developed by patients themselves towards their own physical and mental in-capabilities enhanced racial distortions among nurses(McFadden & Erikson, 2020;Purtzer & Thomas, 2019).On the other hand, patients' racism towards nurses was revealed in the experiences of nurses. Patients committed racial aggression when nurses were unable to meet their needs, which in some cases were unreasonable and beyond the defined nurse-patient relationship.…”

“…They hindered nurses' efforts to provide appropriate care to patients and improve the nurse-patient relationship. When patients were not given opportunities to assert their cultural identities, they were discouraged to follow nurses' interventions and health-related advice leading to more healthcare issues(Debesay et al, 2021;McFadden & Erikson, 2020;Purtzer & Thomas, 2019).Patients mainly were dissatisfied with receiving support by nurses and complained about nurses' superior, cold and without sympathy communication style, inattention to their caring needs, not receiving suitable education, not spending enough time with patients and frequent nurses' turnover(Lyles et al, 2011;Martin et al, 2016;McFadden & Erikson, 2020).…”