Wdyt, racisim in healthcare

[Deleted]

Hmm.

Well.

If somebody didn't want me to care for him because of my race, then I wouldn't want to care for him.

[orangeblossom]

I think it's unfortunate, but as much as people like think otherwise, racism is alive and well.

I feel more for the hospital than I do the bigoted people, it's a hard position to be in, but at the end of the day for them their patients and the bottom line come first, so I can see them siding with the patient's request. That said, other hospitals have had to pay out for pulling healthcare workers off of the case.

If someone told me as a HCW, they didn't want me working on them, I would be like WTH, but then say that's their prerogative and,I'm probably better off, because you know that patient or their family is just looking for you to make a mistake or lie about it, and then you have bigger problems.

Also, if a patient needs to see the best of the best and they happen to be a minority, then that's on them to not get the best care, and they'll have do deal with whatever outcome comes from their bigoted decision.

[kirra]

Hmm. We're talking about patients choosing or refusing to use care providers, right? Not about whether racism affects the care patients receive.

Coming from a patient's perspective, I strongly believe that I have the right to choose not to receive care from pretty much anyone I don't want to care for me. I have switched doctors because of their low standard of care, I have switched lab providers because they consistently fail to manage blood draws, and there is one nurse who I won't allow to take blood, although she's great on the phone or answering questions. None of those decisions were based on nationality or ethnicity. They were based on the care I did or did not receive.

It makes me nervous to think about restricting a patient's right to choose or refuse care providers, even if it comes from the right motivations. I'm white. If there were a black doctor or nurse that I felt compromised my care, would I have to go through a more strict process to change providers than if the provider I wanted to get rid of was white?

But choices have consequences. If someone chooses not to be cared for by someone due to racist beliefs, then that hospital may not have enough staff to take care of them, and maybe they need to leave and find somewhere else.

I think it would absolutely suck to be a provider dealing with a racist patient, though.