Introduction
The comfort levels, when applied to the workplace, are significant for discriminated employees, such as African American nurses. Therefore, the conducted virtual interview involved a woman from this population group, and her participation was beneficial for improving social work for these people. The person was a Black female nursing specialist of 35 years old born in Boston, Massachusetts, and working there for the past five years in this position. Hence, her socioeconomic status is determined by an average income satisfying the essential needs, appropriate education in the field, and current employment.
Interview
Over the course of two conversations with the interviewee, it was established that the existence of discrimination is determined by specific practices of healthcare facilities. For example, they include the lack of respect from other colleagues, disregard for opinions, and the neglect of race as a characteristic, making individuals in this category of workers more vulnerable than others. These outcomes are also supported by research on the topic, as the mentioned issues are on the list of the main obstacles for African American nurses, which mean fewer opportunities for career promotion for them (Iheduru-Anderson et al. 413). Higher levels of stress were also reported to be critical for interacting in other settings, as the woman said she was unwilling to cooperate when facing issues in social, economic, and religious institutions.
For example, the stereotypes of her unreliability prevented the interviewee from equally accessing banking services, such as loans and governmental assistance when studying. It means that the negativity is projected onto other spheres of life and also supported by educational facilities, which historically do not address micro-aggressions towards these people (Jefferies a). In general, the response to these struggles was to avoid confrontation due to the feeling of helplessness. This experience affected the woman’s activity by decreasing the desire to improve her social status. The main strengths and resilience of this group were suitable education for addressing people’s needs in the workplace and willingness to help. However, the failure to do so does not seem to lead to the intention to reach out for help as they do not trust social workers and other helping professionals. It was conditional upon the absence of similar interventions and unawareness of their effectiveness, but they are ready to discuss this possibility.
The Experience: Reflection
The selection of this particular group is conditional upon the combination of two factors, gender, and occupation, which is critical for the provision of high-quality services to other categories of citizens. Therefore, the experience consisted of the examination of factors preventing the affected persons from actively participating in societal life, as described in the previous section, and the response to daily challenges. It was extremely helpful for social work practice as this knowledge can be used for designing methods to deal with these problems. Initially, the expectations and feelings were connected to the alleged unwillingness of these people to share the traumatic events; however, no biases were included. In the process, I managed to learn about the interrelation between individuals and entities in society and, more specifically, came to the conclusion that I can take action to promote a positive change for them. For this purpose, it is important to know some details about work in this group, including the similarity and differences in perceptions and shared values. Thus, the measures for supporting non-oppressive practices should be the establishment of standards in the workplace and cooperation with healthcare providers.
Engagement Process
The skills and techniques adopted for engaging with the person were active listenings to demonstrate the interest in improving the situation as well as cultural competence, which I relied on in the process of interviewing the woman. The former was beneficial for initiating an open discussion of the most vital issues related to discrimination since it is not easy to start without external support. In turn, the latter was advantageous for eliminating the gap between our experiences and, consequently, facilitating the conversation by using the same terms. The most efficient decision was to read about the topic before the interview and emphasize my awareness of “the strong Black woman construct” applicable to this field (Jefferies 1 b). It helped find common grounds by highlighting the need for inner change for its external manifestation.
There were no significant challenges in performing the task since I was well-prepared. Nevertheless, the two things for improvement might be the use of multiple sources and the comparison with situations of other discriminated groups in the same setting. In general, I was responsive to what the person was saying due to the proper selection of techniques described above. This conclusion is based on the positive reaction of the woman implying an effective response and her emerging interest in how social work can help. Therefore, supporting the initiative with the specified research was the main factor contributing to a better experience.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the implications of the interview with an African American nurse for social work practice are connected to their suitability for examining the impact of the environment in the matter. In other words, the importance of the policies of entities, such as healthcare facilities, for eliminating discrimination was confirmed. In this way, the continuation of the analysis of this topic can help both professionals and their patients.
Works Cited
Iheduru-Anderson, Kechinyere C., Chimezie J. Agomoh, and Joseph Inungu. “African Born Black Nurses’ Perception of Their US Work Environment: Race Matters.” Nursing Outlook, vol. 69, no. 3, 2021, pp. 409-424.
Jefferies, Keisha. “Recognizing History of Black Nurses a First Step to Addressing Racism and Discrimination in Nursing.” The Conversation, Web.
Jefferies, Keisha. “The Strong Black Woman: Insights and Implications for Nursing.” Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 2020, pp. 1-7.