“Unmasked Nursing:” Nurses at NYU Langone struggle to maintain safety of patients amid racist and hostile work conditions.
The masked nurse that just walked into your room, took away your pain, medicated your worries, and comforted your family is the same unmasked nurse outside that berates, discriminates, neglects their peers, sitting idly by while sipping on gossip, as their fellow BIPOC colleagues struggle to stay afloat without a life jacket.
It seems racism is woven into the very fabric within this institution and accountability is nowhere to be found, unless your skin color deviates from the standard norm.
“I was happy until I got here. I gained weight from stress, it’s just not worth it. Crying every shift is just not good for me. New grad RN”
The saying “Do no harm” is an emblem that medicine’s foundation is grounded in. Healthcare workers pledge to this oath before entering the field and abide by it for the remainder of their working lives. We are trusted with the most terrifying, humbling, and vulnerable parts of an individual’s lives. This amount of trust should not be taken lightly. Unfortunately, at NYU Langone it has become an uphill challenge to abide by this oath.
NYU Langone has been touted as one of America’s greatest healthcare institutions servicing a myriad of patients across the state. The Kimmel Pavilion was opened in 2018 and was created to optimize “efficiency by moving patients around less, bringing patient care equipment to the bedside, and freeing clinical staff to spend more time caring for patients.” Instead, from the experiences of many of its staff, it has become a hotbed of unsafe care, callous individuals, and an administration that lacks empathy and desires monetary advancements regardless of the costs to those that work to maintain its elitist reputation to the public.
2020 was a pivotal moment and a worldwide awakening to the disparities, and the public health crisis known as racism. Multitude of different organizations came out to denounce racism and unfair treatments of Black and Indigenous People/Persons of Color (BIPOC). On NYU’s public website they provide a roadmap with 4 pillars to focus on sustainable change. At first glance one might indulge in the decadent words flowing down a meaningless page, but what lies underneath counteracts the values and statements expressed as part of this “virtual signaling culture” where individuals express a disingenuous moral viewpoint with the intent of communicating positive morale character, while there hidden actions are far more sinister and insincere.
Please note the following dismissed grievances accounted by Black nurses at NYU Langone Kimmel Pavilion 14th floor (Cardio-thoracic unit):
The manager of the unit was Alison M., a veteran that served in the war and has dedicated 20+ years to NYU Langone as the nurse manager. Being one of the few women of color nurse managers amongst a predominately white institution does not come without its own unique set of traumas. She overcame these challenges and instilled a sense of fairness and equity, and equality in her unit. The unit was a bizarre mix of acute level patients and the other half was an intensive care unit where patients had invasive monitoring and required more individual nursing care due to their complex medical needs. For fairness, she made sure her nurses rotated amongst both the ICU and the acute side so that everyone was well skilled and confident to take any and all patients. Not everyone was elated to this change; some nurses felt “too proud” to be taking care of acute patients, others were insecure about their ability to care for critical patients. The expectations were clear; all the patients regardless of their complexity were “our” patients and they each deserved the same quality of care. These were people not a menu where you pick and choose based on your desire for the day. At the time there were 8 nurses of color on the unit, and 3 of them served as charge nurses on the day shift, and two on the night shift. The charge nurse is the head nurse of a shift, a resource for all during the grueling 12 hours on the dynamic, fast-paced unit. Alison suffered a work-related injury and had to take a leave of absence, that’s when the racist overtones of NYU broke through the protective wall that Alison had crafted to protect her BIPOC nurses’ from experiencing what she had in her 20+ years at NYU. Alison was forced to retire, despite her workplace injury her director of nursing gave an ultimatum to come back or be let go. She sadly gave up a role that she cherished for many years because regardless of the excellent unmatched work that was put into the hospital, her skin color was her ultimate downfall, an experience shared by BIPOC individuals throughout this country. The director of nursing Ronald K. was allegedly seen boasting about giving her an ultimatum that was overheard by some staff members, an inappropriate display of white power over the livelihood of a black women, a trope that we see too often.
Religious Discrimination
NYU boasts a plethora of diverse religious individuals, they have curated safe spaces such as “prayer and meditation spaces” where individuals can practice their personal religious beliefs in a tranquil atmosphere. In addition, the Sabbath religious practices of those within the jewish Community are safeguarded with respect to working on friday and Saturdays (times the sabbath is practiced). Accommodations are made by the hospital without burdening or forcing the nurses to find their own accommodations. You can imagne the confusion when the same level of religious respect, understanding, and decency was not given to those of the muslim community. On Monday March 22th, 2021 two nurses on the unit who identify as muslim were observing the holy month of Ramadan, a important holiday for those that practice Islam. The day of Eid (May 12th 2021) marks the end of Ramadan, the end of a 30 day fast from food, water, and other behaviors dedicated to increasing one’s spirituality. The two nurses were scheduled to work the day of Eid which is not known until a day or two before and nursing schedules are usually made months in advance. They asked the now retired assistant nurse manager Estella to get the day off, and she told them they would need to switch their schedule around and were not allowed to take vacation time, given it was a 6 month requirement as new hires. This statement was false because per HR (Human Resource) policy it is a 3 month policy for new hires, furthermore, religious holidays are exempt from this rule as the institution provides coverage for this. This was a clearly biased incident because even their Jewish colleagues lamented at this clear double standard and rallied behind the nurses to fight for the holiday. After relaying to HR and communicating with Estella the holiday was given and the nurse discussed his concerns about the clear bias and discrimination and it was brushed off. This was the first incident that alluded to a domino effect of tumultuous events.
Racial Discrimination
Before Alison left, there were multiple charge nurses of color at the time and afterwards they were removed from their leadership roles almost instantaneously. When the white female nurses became in charge the racial biases engnited. The charge nurses began to make assignments based on requests from their friends and cherry picking which patient’s they wanted to take care of. Quotations of these interactions have been provided below:
“Make sure I only get one ICU patient tonight and I don’t want the patient in room 13 (who was an ICU patient that happened to be African American” — RN Olivia
“I want to pod with my friends tonight so i am going to make changes to the assignment” RN KP14”
“I only like to take care of one really sick patient. I don’t do acute patients -RN Olivia
“I don’t understand why I am on the acute side, I am too good for this — RN
One instance where a white nurse RN Brittany came on to the unit and erased the assignment that was made by the charge nurse of a latinx nurse because she did not want the patient assignment she initially was given. The nurse was upset by these actions and made a complaint, but the assignment was not changed. Furthemore, the latina nurse stated during a morning meeting with interim assistant nurse manager Elizabeth O. (Beth) present that it was inappropriate to change assignments based on selfishness without speaking to the charge nurse. Her concerns were disregarded as the behaviors continued until reaching a boiling point.
The people of color in this situation were not given the same level of privileges that their white counterpart nurses were given. In fact, they were given harder assignments that were unsafe, created duress, and increased burden on the BIPOC and jeopardized their licenses. In addition, their coworkers were aware of these differential treatments and stayed silent and almost relished in these unfair circumstances:
“We know that RN Hakeem and other black nurses get harder assignments……that’s because they can handle it.” RN Ash & Alex
One of the nurses shared an account in which his license was jeopardized from an unfair assignment.
“I was given 4 TAVR”s which stands for trans-aortic valve replacement, an innovative treatment for patients with aortic insufficiency. The maximum ratio is 3 patients to 1, and the nurse was given 4 of these patients almost simultaneously. Two of the patients were bleeding profusely from their surgical site and I had to hold pressure running back and forth between both rooms. My other pt. started to complain of a headache and her blood pressure was over 200 and I had to emergently bring it down given her age and risk of damaging the new valve. In addition, my fourth patient had started showing signs of a stroke and I was not able to assess him until the signs became more prominent. It was later revealed the stroke had been present and growing since he was put on the floor and I was unable to see him because of my other 3 emergencies. I felt like a failure because there is only one of me, and only so much I can do especially when I am set up to fail”
The RN did not leave that shift until 11pm and was expected to be back the next day. This was not the first or last account of unsafe assignments the nurse was given while his white counterpart nurses were given easier assignments or safer ratios. In fact it seemed to be a consistent occurrence for many of the BIPOC individuals on the unit either given the patients no one else wanted to take care of, or the more difficult patients.
“The one reason I left the floor is totally due to the mistreatment and the white privileges. I knew that my voice would not be heard because of my skin color so I had to leave.” — BIPOC Nurse
Systemic segregation and oppression
The 1900s segregation era has been thoroughly revived on KP14 at NYU Langone. Working in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is a highly coveted position, and sometimes breeds a sense of entitlement and elitism amongst those that work in the unit. The nurses on the floor keep the ICU pt’s amongst a select few of nurses excluding the BIPOC nurses, and bask in the glory. In contrast their counterparts are belittled and shamed for not being experts. Furthermore, learning and growing opportunities in the clinical settings are deliberately taken away, a clear depiction of systemic secession and oppression. One of the male nurses that had been trained for hemodialysis 3 months into the beginning left without ever being given the opportunity while his white counterparts would take these learning opportunities continuously.
Furthermore, assignments were made in a derogatory manner. On multiple occasions the nurses of color would all be cast to one side of the unit. In July, one of the BIPOC nurses on the unit noticed that all of the nurses of color were put to one side and inquired as to why. The charge nurse on day shift responded by saying
“I put all my black boys on that side. That is a very strong side.” Charge Nurse
Multiple nurses of color were in the vicinity of this comment and expressed their shock and disgust at a wildly inappropriate and offensive comment. It also validated the concerns the BIPOC nurses had that they were often being prejudiced against. Due to their white counterparts making comments about nurses of color “who can’t handle assignments and are not up to par.” This demonstrates that the unit has cultivated systematic oppression of people of color and making them feel inferior to their white counterparts, surely related to being pigeonholed and segregated to the “south end of the unit.” A familiar parallel to being sent to the “back of the bus” or being excluded from a “white only area.”
Lack of accountability
The interim manager Beth was allegedly aware of these unfair circumstances but maintained a duplicitous and ignorant bliss nature. The nurses on the unit verbalized allegedly that “Beth loves us, we text her on the side all the time RN Olivia.” This bold statement demonstrates a relationship between the manager that the nurse and friends that appeared problematic. Furthermore, in meetings assistant interim manager Beth stated to one RN:
“I heard that you did not want ICU patients, that you wanted acute patients.” Manager Beth
This rumor was false and furthermore the manager verbalized that she had engaged in inappropriate conversations about other nurses without clarifying immediately with the nurse involved. This statement was used as a rationale for why the nurse was not rotated fairly as was the standard for the unit.
In another meeting with a female black RN that was charge nurse previously during Alison’s leadership, the nurse expressed her concerns at unfair treatments and being pulled off her duty as charge for several months without an explanation. Beth replied to her:
“I heard that you didn’t like your role as charge nurse.” Manager Beth
Another rumor that was unfounded and the nurse relayed that this was a false statement and that Beth never spoke to her about this false alleged comment. Using unfounded rumours and commentary from other nurses display’s a high level of unprofessional behavior, and using this as justification for differential treatment is unacceptable. Multiple of the white nurses on the floor complained to Beth on multiple occasions about not having enough ICU pt’s, or charge roles, and each of their complaints was met with swift changes. Yet on the opposite side the same level of equity was not reciprocated to BIPOC individuals when they had complained. One of the nurses on the unit within the BIPOC community complained about always being placed on the acute side without any opportunity to learn or grow on the ICU side, and felt her issues were quickly dismissed.
We know in the world especially within the justice system that BIPOC individuals face harsher penalties and punishments more than their white counterparts. At NYU this remains the same as well. Inequity rears its ugly head in how punishments and accountability are handled. For example, one of the nurses had a verbal confrontation with a fellow white nurse about the unfair treatments and the privileges awarded with assignments. Both engaged in unprofessional behavior, but only one was threatened with severe punishment. Furthermore, the punishment came after the individual turned whistleblower reported some of the issues mentioned to HR. The nurse describes the encounter below:
“I had worked four shifts in a row because management made a mistake on my schedule and this was the solution. I came on to the unit and noticed my name was not on the assignment sheet. Realizing I was an extra nurse I offered to help around as much as I could, cover breaks, etc. Instead the charge nurse attempted to float me to another unit, which was not the rule of thumb on the unit because if you work consecutive shifts they don’t float you to another unit. After refusing this, then the charge nurse wanted to give a vacation day to anyone who wanted it without looking at the vacation book to see who was next in line. It turned out the vacation day was stolen from a BIPOC nurse and instead given to a white nurse who allegedly was “not feeling well.” I told them that was a personal problem because the nurse should have used sick time and not shown up at all risking the lives of our vulnerable patient population, but also showed a disregard for the wellbeing of her peers health as well. They sent the nurse home and gave me two of the sickest patients on the floor, and also removed an orientee from me citing my upset behavior as the rationale. I thought this was laughable and ironic because orientees have been given to nurses who told them to their face they did not want to teach at all. I have never been offered an opportunity to be a preceptor despite my goal is to become a professor because I love to learn and teach. I called manager Beth and she also concluded was incorrect on them, and that the holiday was inappropriately given and it was actually sick time, and that my orientee should not have been removed. After seeing the blatant disrespect and loathsomeness my peers gave me; I broke. There’s only so much a person can take and I stepped out of character. I myself was shocked at my behavior and realized that I had a mental breakdown, and could no longer work around these hateful individuals and knew it was time to call it quits here.
During the interaction the white nurse stated allegedly that “you can’t call us dumb white nurses. If you don’t like it or are working with us then you can just leave.” A microaggressive statement stating if the BIPOC nurse was not happy with the treatment then exit can be the next step. A triggering statement that historically has been used to placate the experiences and focuses on white silence, black violence, and inactions. The distraught BIPOC nurse was forced to resign and threatened with dismissal from the institution, while the female counterpart was not adequately held responsible, something all too common in society.
A bipoc nurse recounts an incident that made him feel worthless and unprotected:
“Your charge nurse is supposed to be your guard and this was not the case with me. I had an elderly patient who had dementia so initially when she started making racists comments, I shrugged it off it wasn’t her fault. In her confused state she accused me of breaking into her daughters’s house and stealing something from her room without permission. I attempted to reorient her and she said she wasn’t shocked because that’s what my people usually do. I was taken back and said “Excuse me? That’s not okay to say.” She said she knew what blacks did to elderly like her, I tried to reorient her to something else, and she was like see you are trying to abuse me and started saying that I had beaten her like others like me do. At this point I was beyond insulted and called my charge nurse RN Julia to report the comments, and that she was accusing me of abuse even though that is not true. I know how serious these allegations can be confused or not. Knowing that I as a black male being accused of white elder abuse? My life would be over in an instant. It sucks this was my first thought, not that no one would take this seriously. My charge clearly proved this because when I called she stated “is this an emergency?” I was stunned by how dismissive the comment was. I tried to restate the issue and request a change in the assignment to protect myself and my license. I was told that as long as the patient was stable that she would come back when she was finished. I said okay and hung up the phone devastated that my issue seemed of no importance. In the morning, in view of another staff member as I was leaving she accused me of abuse and also stealing again and I was completely fed up. Around 7:30 RN Julia came to me an apologized for disregarding my concerns and realized the error she made. I told her I forgave her, but also educated her on how to do better in the future. That was the last time we ever really spoke. I never told anyone but I burst into tears when I got home. I felt so pathetic because I was used to these interactions. They happen at least once a week, but something about this one hurt different. Perhaps I was so dehumanized that I had nothing else to grasp on to.”
The one-sided punishment is a retaliatory attempt from the institution to remove “minority problems.” BIPOC individuals are only safe should they keep their mouths shut, head down, and do their job and any deviation from this will be met with a hammer of justice that is not nailed down onto others. On multiple instances nurses have engaged in shouting matches with one another, another nurse punched a wall in the presence of staff members, others cursed at one another as families and other providers were an audience to this. Providers can be seen yelling, berating, beltitling, and almost getting physical with staff members and still come to work everyday without any accountability. Here they are awarded with either a slap on the wrist or even worse; nothing at all. The unprofessional behavior ties them all together, but skin color acts like a blade slicing the bonds and creating a visible division, ultimately playing a factor in who is held accountable. In fact, one of the Caucasian female nurse practitioners (NP) was reported for discrimination and abusive behavior against her fellow BIPOC NP colleagues while engaging in an alleged unprofessional sexual relationship with her alleged boss. The NP was allowed to leave but still able to work the remainder of her shift until her agreed upon end date. Furthermore, there are only 4 NP’s of color on the unit and they are all on the night shift, and only 2/4 of them have been allowed to take care of ICU patients. A direct mirroring of the events that the nurses themselves were also facing. The ridiculous audacity to have a provider that has demonstrated bias to be on the premises, interacting with families and patients of color, and also the very victims she verbally abused. It seems racism is woven into every fabric with this intuition, and accountability is nowhere to be found unless your color deviates from the standard norm.
Since these issues came to light the institution has attempted to cover it up and make changes to the fairness in the assignment and reinstated the nurses of color back into their original leadership roles. The fact of the matter is that the changes indicate that the institution is aware that bias was present on this unit; solutions don’t manifest unless there’s a problem. To make matters worse, multiple of the white women on the unit have been seen having breakdowns crying in the management office about being moved from ICU to acute.
This childish display of entitlement not only confirms that they were most likely aware of the privileges awarded, but that equity and equality is being given, through that their true nature is revealed. To be distraught at equity being introduced on your unit shows a level of subconscious bias that resides within multiple of these nurses on the unit, and a gormless level of entitlement and privilege that is almost flabbergasting if not for its insidious nature. In addition one of the nurses made an insensitive and derogatory joke of these changes on the night of November 4th when asked about her transition to the acute side in which she replied in a sarcastic manner:
“well you heard we have to give everyone equal opportunity here” — RN Alex,
and the other nurse RN Diana both started to laugh. This comment doesn’t even deserve a response at all but highlights the innate and deep rooted biases the nurses on the unit engage in. The comment has been discussed and the nurse is still allowed to work on the unit and take care of patients and families from different backgrounds which is more terrifying than the comment itself. On the night of November 11th the nurses, RN Diana, and RN Laurina were seen conversing when it was allegedly overheard that:
“you know we have to give equal opportunity around here”
and starting to laugh once again. Some of the nurses on the unit have demonstrated that not only is equality and equity a joke to them, but that it’s more of an annoyance to their privileged lifestyles and once again paints a painful picture of the culture of the unit. The same nurse RN Laurina was seen confronting at a newer BIPOC nurse telling her to avoid a fellow BIPOC nurse saying that he was “a bad person” and that “his attitude is horrible” slandering, defaming and libeling of a character not present to defend himself. Witnesses discussed how inappropriate this interaction was, and apologized that the nurse had to experience that. Furthermore, using the trope to present the BIPOC as the stereotypical angry black man which is further from the truth. Furthermore, RN Laurina stated her shock that her BIPOC nurses had recieved new jobs:
“how did they get a job there, I have applied and I didn’t get in? You need a manger’s recommendation and I know for a fact that manger Beth would not write one for them.” — RN Laurina
The shock that occurred to the fellow staff members witnesses to these comments and the openly discriminatory statement about their accolades. This statement is reminiscent of how often that minorities accomplishments are downplayed and the vicious display of character destruction by RN Laurina shows the insidious personalities that reside on the unit. In reality the character of an individual who is facing a hostile environment and still shows up to work, performs the necessary duties, and still amicable towards those causing harm and duress is exactly what nursing is about, not the latter. In addition, her statement that RN Laurina knew that “manager Beth” would not write the recommendation begs to wonder how and why she was sure of this statement.
Hostile work environment
Nursing, one of the highly respected jobs, is also infamously known for its historical issues with nursing bullying. The iconic cliche saying that “nurses eat their young ‘’ which is an analogy that is used to describe the cutthroat and abusive nature that often occurs in nursing. KP 14 is not a stranger to bullying, in fact it welcomes it and uses it as a forceful weapon to cut nurses into who they want or cut those they want out of the unit. Multiple new grad nurses have discussed their instances with bullying and harassment, often in the face of management, as far as to be orchestrated by management. One of the new grads back in the month of March to April RN Tom who was forced to resign experienced brutal and harassing bullying that many on the unit were privy to. He was insulted by his preceptor, and other nurses on multiple occasions. Regardless of the skills and expertise no one should be degraded or brutalized for enjoyment and masked as protecting patients and educating the nurse. Tom ultimately was told he was unfit for the unit and subsequently let go from the institution. One of the new graduate nurses RN Jacqueline recounts her horrific experience as well. From her first day she was shunned by her preceptor RN Becca. In lieu of those around her including her orientee RN Becca stated:
“why do I have an orientee? I don’t want to precept. I came to the day shift to take care of ICU patients.
Despite this disregard for another human being RN Jacqueline was still forced to train, learn, and prepare to be on her own with an individual that verbalized her disdain at being given such a task. In addition, the nurse following the completion of her orientation period stated that she lacked the knowledge and experience and wanted more time to learn. This was negated, instead she was forced to begin her journey, with no map or even a destination. The nurse struggled in front of her judgemental peers who ridiculed, gossiped, and often refused to help. The nurse sent an email about her concerns below for reference:
“Good morning,
I hope my letter finds you well.
I’m am contacting you about our previous conversation of how I can improve my nursing practice. During my orientation I was training with several different preceptors almost each shift, and each preceptor had a different style of nursing and different patient safety consideration. Sometimes I received mixed messages regarding safety! There were times that I was informed by my preceptor that it was okay to overwrite medications if the barcode was not scanning, or to scan the patient’s label on the computer instead of the patient’s bracelet, so I adapted to this unit’s culture thinking that this is the right way, because this is how I was trained. I have taken full responsibility for my actions. I want you to know that since our last conversation, I have been working very hard and improving my practice as a new nurse, and I am trying to be better every day. It has been very challenging! I arrive early, I look up my patient and try to be on top of all nursing tasks, and I believe I have been doing everything that I have been asked to do!
I have internalized how important patient’s safety is, and I have been practicing in the safest way I possibly can at this point in my career.
As I finished orientation, I have been given a 5 patient assignment almost every shift, and as a new nurse without any previous experience is overwhelming without any help in the floor. The acuity of our patients is very high. We have no PCT’s, and usually my coworkers are very busy with their patients when I ask for help. I came to realize how inadequate my orientation was when I consider the populations and tasks on kp14. I want you to know that I aim to be a bedside nurse who is well prepared for the task and think critically when it comes to patient’s safety.
When I ask for help it is because I want to learn and I would like to feel supported by staff and management, and have the right information so I can improve my practice instead of feeling anxiety. I feel that when I reach out to the educators or management it’s a problem and I get negative feedback most of the time even though I have changed my practice and I feel I have improved a lot. Still, I was given another two weeks on day shift without being told a reason for it, and no one has been around to tell me anything. I’ve been taking care of 5–8 patients on my own with great care, and patients tell me that they feel comfortable under my care.
I would like the opportunity to sit down and develop a plan with exactly what it is you still need me to work on, and what resources you can provide for me to reach those goals. Just watching me on my own is not helping me, it’s just making me more nervous. Therefore, I would like to know what else I still need in too work on, a reduction in the tension in the interactions that I’ve had had, and resources so that I can succeed to meet those goals.
I know my skills are still in progress, but I need support, I need management support, I’m here to learn and be the best I can be. I appreciate all your kind consideration.
I want to be the best nurse that I can be. I know that I can do this with the proper training. I became a nurse because I truly care and wanna help those that are the most vulnerable. I want to provide safe, excellent magnet care to my patients. This is the main reason I chose NYU from all my other offers.
I truly appreciate your feedback and look forward to meeting with you soon.”
END OF EMAIL
The nurse’s request for help was denied instead she was met with a severe form of hazing and nursing intimidation. The nurse would have her charting reviewed on a daily basis, management would follow her into the rooms and watch her care continuously. In one instance, RN Jacqueline was looking up information on a medication and the manager ridiculed her for not knowing the information already, in which she protested that if resources were not to be used what was the point of having them? The nurse further escalated her concerns to HR who sent the information to management saying to create an improvement plan, disregarding the complaints of harassment and bullying. The nurse stated how retaliation increased towards her after this
“I feel like quitting so badly, I am having daily meetings, check-ins on my documentation just to find something to complain about. I get yelled at if I call or don’t call providers. No matter what I do, it’s wrong. If I ask for help I am told I can’t handle my assignment, if I don’t then I am behind. Even when I ask questions they think is dumb they go report on me for asking. I feel so inadequate.”
The worst part about these issues is that they were aware of their inappropriate behavior because they were cited asking the new graduate nurses if they thought they were mean?
“Be honest, do you think we are mean? RN Erica, Hannah, Alex, & Olivia, to a BIPOC nurse.
Since these issues have been brought to light the individuals listed as those responsible for causing harm and discrimination started a campaign to change the narrative for themselves. They have seen helping others on the unit, being friendly, and attempting to pretend as if nothing had occurred. In addition, one of the nurses accused of committing heinous acts stated that she had:
“decided to take a step back from her group of friends, and take a look at how people were treated, and that yes in fact her friend and colleague RN Alex was, has been, and is toxic.” RN Julia
The words not only vilify and verify what the people of color on the unit have been saying for months; about the treatment that have received from their white counterparts. Also it shows accountability and that the burden of proof is no longer needed as the individuals attempt to escape from retribution for their actions.
Awareness in the face of harm is insidious and showcases individuals devoid of sympathy, empathy, and human decency. There are many similar stories like the ones mentioned, but many fear retribution for coming forward, as NYU has shown a history of retaliation, that even the CEO himself participated against those that speak out about the institution. Examples are provided below for your knowledge:
History of Retaliation at NYU Langone:
https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/94989
In conclusion,
NYU has shown that there needs to be work done within its institution to provide a safer environment for BIPOC individuals to maintain diversity and a safe working conditions devoid of bullying,. harassment, and discrimination. Using BIPOC individuals as a virtual signaling method on social media, pictures to provide a fake sense of “diversity” without caring about their experiences is disingenuous and harmful. The real question to ask oneself is whether NYU purposely attracts these biased individuals, or cultivates an environment that breeds these harmful beliefs and actions? This is an answer that the reader has to decide for themselves. Furthermore, for those entering or already within the healthcare world, you have to decide if these issues are worth overlooking to work at a “top magnet hospital”, and for families, if this is an institution worthy of caring for your loved ones? Choose wisely.
Please feel free to contact me to share, discuss, and dissect the issues within NYU and also within healthcare as a whole.
Linkedin:
DISCLAIMER:
The issues above are serious in matter and need an unbiased outside investigation given that management and the institution has shown a lack of impartiality (multiple allegations of issues have been brought to HR without adequate accountability, and stated from the individuals that they were in good favor with manager Beth) and possibly favorable bias towards the listed perpetrators. In addition, as nurses we are there to take care of patients, and many of us struggle to maintain adequate nursing care given the brutality experienced on the unit. That's why there has been a mass exodus of BIPOC nurses from the unit and the institution. Justice must be given.
