Latest survey shows racism prevalent in nursing

Editor's Note

On January 25, 2022, the National Commission to Address Racism in Nursing released the results from a survey of more than 5,600 nurses, which were published by the American Nurses Association (ANA). According to the results, racism is a “substantial problem” within nursing.

Health Leaders, in an article titled “Racism reaches nearly every corner of nursing, new survey reveals,” also disseminated the survey results and included the following statistics:

• 63% of nurses surveyed said they have personally experienced an act of racism in the workplace
• 66% of the nurses who personally experienced an act of racism said the transgressors were peers; 60% said the transgressors were managers or supervisors
• 92% of Black nurse respondents have personally experienced racism in the workplace; of those, 70% experienced it from leaders, 66% from peers, and 68% from patients in their care
• 73% of Asian nurse respondents and 69% of Hispanic nurse respondents also reported personally experiencing racism in the workplace.

Responses to the survey included the ANA president affirming that racism has “absolutely no place in the nursing profession,” and nurse leaders urging nurses to speak up against racism and discrimination

According to the survey, 57% of respondents said they have challenged racist treatment in the workplace, but 64% of them said that their actions “resulted in no change.”