Introduction
Discrimination is experienced in several sectors in the U.S. and healthcare is no exception. Discrimination may be defined as unfairly treating individuals or a group of people differently from others. It happens in nursing in various ways, for instance, patients may reject nurses of color and request white nurses. Some organizations fail to hire Back professionals due to discrimination (reference). Although efforts have been put in place at the national level to eliminate discrimination associated with race/ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status, the problem persists and further efforts are needed. All nurses must understand the potential impact of discrimination in healthcare as well as possible solutions to the problem (reference). The purpose of this paper is to provide an in-depth discussion of discrimination in nursing including impact and possible solutions.
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Different Contexts of Discrimination in Nursing
Discrimination can happen in a different context in nursing care, such as between nurses and patients and among nurses themselves. Discrimination happens among nursing peers. Nurses often experience acts of discrimination from fellow nurses who have prejudiced or ignorant attitudes and beliefs about one or several of their personal characteristics (reference). Discrimination can culminate into dangerous assumptions about other people based on age, race, or gender. Discrimination among nurses may be expressed through
microaggressions or racial slurs. Microaggressions involve actions and comments that reflect a bias against certain types of people or groups of people (reference). Discrimination among nurses may be based on particular characteristics such as age, race, gender, religion, political affiliation, and others.
Discrimination may also occur between nurses and patients. Nurses have been reported holding stereotypes about patients that can in turn affect the quality-of-care delivery. On the other hand, patients may hold prejudiced perceptions about nurses causing them to mistreat those attending to them (reference). Therefore, both patients and nurses should be responsible to ensure they avoid discrimination against others.
Types of Discrimination in Nursing
The common types of discrimination in healthcare include racism, ageism, gender discrimination, and LGBTQIA discrimination. According to (reference), discrimination and resulting inequities in health outcomes are less related to income but to demographics, specifically race and ethnicity. Racism has a profound effect on nursing care and has persisted for a long time. It happens both at the individual and systematic levels. At the systematic level, many policies in healthcare settings put people of color at a greater disadvantage (reference). Rules and regulations of doing business in many organizations promote inequalities between racial groups and give privileges to some people.
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Ageism in nursing is another source of discrimination in nursing. A 2013 national survey conducted by the Health Resources and Services Administration indicated that nearly half of nurses are aged 50 years and above. These nurses face discrimination based on their age, despite them making a critical healthcare workforce (reference). False assumptions about their stamina and cognitive ability have caused many people to undermine the contribution of these older nurses. These nurses are often unwillingly pushed to an early retirement due to age discrimination. Gender discrimination is another problem in nursing. Gender bias and other stereotypes include the notion that men do not possess the nurturing ability has distorted the perception of who can be a nurse (reference). Men who enter nursing professions are often misunderstood since nursing is perceived as a woman’s job.