While watching the nursing report provided, I was shocked to listen to the way the nurse giving report spoke about the patient. In the 40 second clip, I was stunned to hear so many biases. Many comments that the nurse giving report said made me extremely uncomfortable. The first comment was within 5 seconds of the beginning of report when she said, “let me give you report, so I can go.” Although this comment is not necessarily related to bias, it still seems inappropriate to say to the other nurse. The second comment that made me uncomfortable was the pronunciation of the patient’s name. The nurse giving report addressed the patient’s name incorrectly and then proceeded to say “who knows where he’s from” insinuating that he is not from here due to his name. This is also an extremely inappropriate comment and shows the nurse’s bias towards the patient. The last comment that stood out to me was the comment about how the patient was injured. The patient had reported his injury was due to a sports accident related to skateboarding. However, when the nurse giving report commented on why the patient was admitted, she used air quotes when addressing the skateboard accident insinuating it was something else has caused his injury instead of a sports injury. These comments made me extremely uncomfortable and showed the reporting nurse’s biases.

These statements are extremely important to address because of many reasons. First, comments like these are inappropriate regardless of the situation or patient. Secondly, the nurse giving report is displaying a distaste for the patient and not treating the patient with the kindness and respect all patients deserve. These comments could take away from the care the patient should be receiving. These comments the nurse is making makes it seem as though she does not respect the patient enough to prove important care for him. Due to this, the patient could suffer physically after surgery and/or mentally.

My initial reaction if I was the nurse receiving this report would be extremely shocked and then have a difficult time responding to the initial comments. However, after my shock subsided, I would feel upset and angry with the words and biases the nurse giving report was saying. I do think I would be able to address the comments the nurse was making. I also think I would bring these comments to the attention of the charge nurse to further discuss the actions that should be taken.   

One of the most uncomfortable situations I have witnessed that displayed bias was in my first clinical rotation. This specific rotation was on a rehab unit with patients recovering from knee, hip, etc. surgery that typically received opioid pain medication. I was in a room with a patient taking a head-to-toe assessment when the rounding team of providers stopped in. I stepped out of the room to give the patient and providers time to speak. While in the hallway I was taking notes on my head-to-toe findings, when I heard one the providers begin to discuss pain management. The patient was upset with the topic and the provider became upset with the patient. After they left the room, the provider addressed the group and said the patient was only upset because they were a drug addict and did not deserve pain medication due to their addiction. The provider then went on to say the patient was from a certain town that was known for addiction and assumed that was why the patient was so upset about the change in medication. One of the other providers asked if the patient could be upset because the change to his medication was not previously discussed with them. The original provider laughed and said no the only possible explanation was the patient being a drug addict. This was the first time I have ever witnessed a bias in the hospital and was shocked to no one truly stand up for the patient.