Color Face Discrimination Reflection

Written Reflection: Growth and Change
Most women of color face discrimination every day, especially in health care facilities. However, it is not until you experience the situation, that you will know the effect it has upon your life. It can either make you or break you as a person. This paper is based on my experience on discrimination as a nursing student and how I have come to grow and learn from the situation.
On my very first day of clinical, which was the 6th of November, I had the honor of working with a lot of residents. However, there was this one particular resident that seemed to act fussy around me. She did not want me touching her but had no problem with my colleague who was a male touching her. So, I just thought that maybe she preferred male nurses to female nurses, but that got me thinking because apart from the male student nurses, there were no …show more content…
66% of black and 58% of Asian nurses reported having difficulties with patients due to the difference in ethnicities (Ferns & Meerabeau, 2008). One student recalls being called a black monkey, black bastard, and so on. One patient even made a comment saying, “What is this country coming to? Where is all the white nurses?” (Ferns & Meerabeau, 2008). All these comments are very hurtful, and can lead nurses to behave harshly towards the patient. However, nurses have a key role in setting the tone and atmosphere in clinical settings. They have to value their patients in situations like this, and the only way this can happen is when nurses are able to value themselves even though their confidence and self-esteem might be triggered in negative environments (Ferns & Meerabeau, 2008). Therefore, empirically, this article supports my actions towards the racial comments I received because I was able to set the tone in the environment and value the