Question

Researchers have documented discrimina- tion against medical professionals by patients who wish to be treated only by Whites.77 An EEOC case against Georgetowne Place, a senior community, stated that for nine years the former general manager had used elabo- rate marks on applications to identify minori- ties so as to avoid hiring them. She claimed that residents “preferred White employees, and did not want minorities to come in their rooms.”78 In another case, management at Linden Grove Health Care Center complied with a family’s request that no “colored girls” work with the resident, did not address frequent use of racial slurs by residents and employees, assigned nursing staff to work shifts, lunch times, and lunch rooms by race, and denied promotions to experienced, highly qualified Blacks.79 a. Whatshouldhealthcaremanagementdoif patients express desires to only be treated by certain kinds of employees? b. What proportion of nursing professionals are women of color? Speculate on increases in recruitment, selection, and training costs associated with refusal to hire women of color for such jobs. c. In the Georgetowne Place case, minorities were rejected for at least nine years. What are the likely effects of discrimination on unemployment, poverty, and morale of those people?

Answer 1

a) This kind of request will only be raised by narrow-minded and rigid patients. In such a scenario, it is the duty of the healthcare management to make the patients understand that the specific physician or nurse is the best at job and that there should be no discrimination between them. If they insist on their request, then the management will have to comply for the same as patient’s wish is foremost. If the patient is happy, he will recover quickly and vice versa.

b) With time, there has been a proportional increase in the diversity of women nurses in USA. Around 24% of the nurses belong to minority community like African-American, Asian, Latino, etc. Healthcare providers are insisting on hiring diverse nurses so as to cater to the needs of a diverse set of patients. Also diversity at the workplace is encouraged by the government. The recruitment cost of hiring diverse nurses is also low, when compared with hiring non-minority nurses. Hence healthcare providers are witnessing a positive change at the workplace and are hiring nurses based on skills and expertise and no discrimination on any basis.

c) In the Georgetowne Place case, minorities were discriminated for over 9 years. It is quite huge time span. In such a scenario, the minorities may have felt dejected and oppressed. Their standard of living would be low and they would be eager to do any kind of job, without any reservation. This long discrimination may also have ignited a rebel among them and they may consider the government responsible for their oppression and denial of basis sustenance rights.