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New York, 1:21 PM
Wed Nov 11
71 posts in the last 24 hours
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10/29/09
10/29/09
The Chinese-American nurse who came on shift at 7:00 am immediately called the doctor and proceeded to rip the first nurse a new one in front of everyone on the floor.
She saved my and my baby's lives. #racism
10/29/09
Kinda flies in the face of Hippocrites though. #racism
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I'm not excusing, just bringing up a possibility. #racism
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Its sad, but like the patient advocate from the VA hospital said below, there are times when trying to change someones mind is useless. Especially when the someone has Alzheimers and even if you COULD make them see finally that skin color means nothing, they would just forget that realization five minute later and be back to disliking black people again. #racism
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To be fair, not all of them are for totally stupid reasons. A lot of our dementia patients served in the Pacific during WWII, they tend to respond very poorly to Asian doctors. We're having trouble with new veterans having violent reactions or flashbacks with south asian or middle eastern doctors on some of our behavioral health units. Some of these guys experienced really terrible things in combat, and being treated by someone who looks like the people they experienced with sets them off. It's not necessarily racism, but it is combat induced PTSD, often combined with other psychological issues. And in those cases, it can be a question of staff safety too.
Vets are a special population, and we work hard to accomodate them, but I struggle with those requests when they come in. #racism
10/29/09
We actually had to change it if they asked, despite management hating the idea. It wasn't worth it- pissing off the parents just ruined it for the kids on their birthdays, who had no say about which asshats gave birth to them. #racism
10/29/09
10/29/09
Caregiver Preference
49. Patients may be given their preference with regard to their caregivers on the basis of gender, religion, and applicable treatment needs. Patient requests regarding their caregivers which contravene the Human Rights Code will not be met.
The human rights code says:
Every person has a right to equal treatment with respect to employment without discrimination because of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, age, record of offences, marital status, family status or disability.
So if you're a woman, you can request a female nurse/physician, with no guarantee this will be met. If you are Jewish and would like a Jewish doctor, same deal. But you can't request "no black people" or "no women".
Anecdotally, if a patient is totally a racist or sexist asshole, sometimes they get their way if an employee feels uncomfortable being around this person, but often you just suck it up and see the asshole. When people are in a hospital, they can feel pretty small, or stressed, or victimized, and they do crazy things to feel in control, so you figure it's more about them then you.
However, if someone is being totally disrespectful, profane, violent or threatening violence, I've seen the cops called and the person dragged out.
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I didn't give a damn as long as the doctor was competent, but I can see how someone with body issues or raised in a much more modest culture might freak out about having a strange man's hand up your vadge. #racism
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My grandmas workaround? Claiming that Hispanic nurses "beat her" - even though this was easily proven wrong, of course they kept them out of the room out of fear from lawsuits (not that anyone else in my family would entertain filing any such thing). #racism
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I don't have an answer to that, just asking the question. #racism
10/29/09
(k, actually, she said it ust before her c-section. So the drugs were prolly for the pain and such. but still, it's not like she was in her right mind, she was spread out like a Thanksgiving turkey about to have a cornish hen yanked out of her middle.) #racism
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10/29/09
Combine that with strong discrimination laws in the UK and you have nil chance of an all white staff in a hospital. Even privately she couldn't avoid this if she needed medical intervention beyond just a midwife. #racism
10/29/09
Milton Keynes, to be fair though, not so much. Pretty much all there is in Milton Keynes are roundabouts and sheep. #racism
10/29/09
*'Asian' in the UK, usually refers to people from the Indian sub-continent. #racism
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I do have a friend from MK who managed to convince a load of American students that his father was the Lord of Milton Keynes. It was a bit of a harsh joke, but it was so difficult not to burst into hysterical laughter whenever it came up. #racism
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10/29/09
@gherkinfiend, et al... My dad and his family are from Leeds and Manchester originally, before coming to America in the 1960s and `70s. I know that England has minorities, just not nearly as many as the U.S. In America, we occasionally hear about such racists that refuse to be treated by a black doctor or a nurse from Puerto Rico. Seems weird that such a request would come from the much whiter-England.
Then again, some of the most bizarre white-only folks I ever met were in Iowa, which is 96 to 98% white.
In any event, my lame attempt at societal comedy aside, it still reminds me of this picture done by an ad adency a few years ago... #racism
10/29/09
::headdesk:: #racism