New kind of racism

Nurses in Ontario experience racism on the job from patients, doctors, nurse managers, and most often from other nurses, research by a York University professor has found, according to a report on www.gleanerextra.com.



\"I would call it a new racism, a subtle but systemic form,\" says professor Tania Das Gupta, chair of the Department of Equity Studies in York\'s Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies. \"It doesn\'t use the language of racism, but it ranges from comments about accents and physical attributes, to a failure to recognize the nurse\'s skills and knowledge.\"



Das Gupta surveyed nurses through the Ontario Nurses\' Association, receiving 593 responses from nurses across the province. She conducted 18 in-depth interviews and closely studied arbitration cases.



In the survey, 41 per cent responded that they had been made to feel uncomfortable because of their race, colour or ethnicity. Most black/African Canadian nurses (82 per cent) and Asian Canadian nurses (80 per cent) said they had experienced this, as well as 50 per cent of South Asian Canadian nurses and 57 per cent of Central/South American Canadian nurses. Even 25 per cent of the white/European Canadian nurses said they had been made to feel uncomfortable because of their ethnicity or religion, said Das Gupta.



In the research undertaken one black nurse reported that she was oftentimes asked if she is a \"real\" nurse.



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