SWAGGIE'S VOICE  

Show Notes

• Archived Blog Post

  Date / Time: 7/21/2008 8:00 PM UTC

  DOES FLORENCE NIGHTENGALE SPIN IN HER GRAVE?©
  

   

   

   

  As I read this latest article about healthcare disparities between black and white nurses released by the Center for Healthcare Workforce Studies at State University of New York, Albany, on July 19, 2008 (AOL), I have to ponder, if only to amuse myself, if Florence Nightengale ever spins in her grave?  I remember reading about Florence Nightengale as a young child and just loving the fact that I could be a nurse when I grew up.  I even became a candy-striper at a local hospital one summer totally inspired by Florence.  Of course, during the time I read her autobiography and became a candy-striper a couple of years later, I overlooked a major detail.  Florence was white and racially biased and her life was not meant for me to mimic.

   

   

  I was busted with this realization during the summer that I was 14 and did my candy-striper job.  I had three nurse assistants that I tagged behind helping to feed and bathe and groom elderly veteran patients.  I especially loved this old man named Julius who lost both legs in the war.  Nevermind which war as I don’t recall.  Anyway, I just knew that Julius probably knew Florence Nightengale because he was so old.  So one day I asked Julius if he knew her.  His response was a warm smile and a soft whisper.  “No, girlie.”  I helped Julius with his oatmeal and told him all about becoming a nurse one day.  When I finished feeding him and was wiping the excess oatmeal off his mouth, Julius whispered deliberately, “No, girlie.”  A few days later I arrived at the facility to discover that Julius died the night before.  I was devastated and I quit a few days later.  However, I kept wondering why he said “No, girlie” with a tone of disapproval after I told him my dreams of being a nurse.

   

   

  On the day I quit, everybody was talking about Julius as it was his funeral day.  I was the youngest one in the group and Miss Linda said, “Ok, girlie, you gonna change white man’s bedpans the rest of your life like us?”  There was my ephiphany then and now.  Julius did not want me to embark down that road.  He wanted me to know in his own way that I would not be like the white nurses who were rarely seen on the floor except when the doctors made rounds.  They just delegated tasks to the African-American assistants.  They drove nice cars and the assistants stood on the bus stops. I told Miss Linda later that day that I could not return and I did not.  I thought about Julius all summer and about Florence Nightengale.  Suddenly, it seemed she betrayed me and my dreams.  She had done great things, but Miss Linda and the other African-American ladies just did the “slop work.” 

   

   

  So on the heels of the AMA admitting to discriminating against doctors and promising to change, news breaks that there is racial disparity between white and black nurses.  Did you know that a pay disparity of an average $20,000 (11 percent) exists between the African-American nurses and their white counterparts?  What is going on in America that these professionals think they can get away with discrimination?  Now I know Florence had no idea how the 21st Century would be, however, she did not advocate for us strong enough during her time.  If she were alive, would she issue an apology? 

   

   

  Well, the most disappointing thing for me is that while the AMA admitted its fault nonetheless, the New York State Nursing Association (NYSNA) deny any racial disparity at all.  They threw up excuses about merit pay scales and stronger union participation.  I am thinking why should a nurse have to rely on a union?  Why can’t an African-American nurse with 30 years experience receive the exact same pay ($80,000) as her white counterpart?  Their jobs are identical and, listen closely, they work at the same hospital.  Yes, it was just a fluke that the truth came out about their vastly differing pay checks. To tell the African-American nurse she should join a union and fight for what is rightfully hers based on solid performance evaluations, is ludicrous.  Were the tables turned, well, forget that because we know the tables would never be turned.

   

   

  Because of the wide-spread pay disparity in the nursing industry, I have to ask if Florence Nightengale is spinning in her grave?  Does she feel like African-Americans have the nerve to seek equality in a career she started?  Is it totally insane to accept that hospitals discriminate against doctors (see my blog on the American Medical Association), but not nurses?  If hospitals practice discrimination, it is definitely being practiced at the nursing level as well and that forces discrimination to trickle down to the patients.  Now, imagine going to the hospital and being treated by white doctors followed by white nurses.  Every now and then you see an African-American doctor or an African-American nurse.  After their task is done, who do you see the most?  That’s right!  You see the African-American assistants in droves.  They bring the food, take the blood, clean our bodies and our rooms, change our beds, and come more often when we push that buzzer.  If we are admitted or discharged around shift changes, we see them on bus stops.

   

   

  I am annoyed and irritated to be honest that the NYSNA would baulk at recent research and statistics showing that racism plays a role in the pay disparity.  I am disappointed that the best the Association can offer is for African-Americans to join unions to get equal pay.  Each individual should be able to apply for a job based on their experience, knowledge, and skill and receive the same dang pay that white applicants or employees do accordingly.  Union dues are expensive and the stress of having to fight for your rights is harmful to anybody’s health! 

   

   

  The NYSNA should swallow its pride and begin policing the pay scales for nursing.  That would be the responsible thing to do.  If the leaders of the Association went back to the days where Florence Nightengale started a career of healthcare, they would find that Florence did possess a strong commitment to humanity and quality healthcare.  Based on that, she would undoubtedly issue an apology herself were she alive today.  Although during her time she was influenced by racial discrimination practices, that does not have to be true today.  Therefore, the core should not be that a white nurse can be superior in pay, but that the same job pays the same no matter who is performing it.

   

   

  Now research has shown that African-Americans receive less quality healthcare so when the AMA says it recognizes that by discriminating, they are contributing to the poor quality of healthcare, what does the nursing associations wish for us to believe?   Well, I believe that the nursing industry needs to step up to the plate and clean house.  That will result in fair and equal pay for nurses and improved healthcare for us.  Of course, another option would be for white nurses to voluntarily accept a 11 percent decrease in their pay checks.  How about that for parity?  Then Florence can stop spinning knowing that quality healthcare applies to all human beings.
  
  
  Agnes ~ Too Wise Not To Praise Him!
  Author of:  "Cooling Well Water:  A Collection of Work by An African-American Bi-Polar Woman."  Winter 2008 Release Pending; Founder/President of Levine-Oliver Publisher - www.levineoliverpublisher.com
  Exclusive publisher of Swaggie's Voice by Swaggie Coleman, http://swaggiecoleman.blogspot.com

  • Tags:
  • Healthcare
  • Disabiity
  • EDC
  • Swaggie Coleman
  • Levine Oliver Publis
  • Permalink