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What’s your current job role? I’m a Healthcare Assistant (HCA) in an adult high dependency unit and I was training during the first peak of Covid-19 and worked full time on the NHS frontline caring for Covid positive service users. What was your personal experience with Covid in a healthcare setting? I was diagnosed with epilepsy when I was 9 years old, which is a neurological issue. I haven’t had any seizures since 2010, but I take medication as a preventative measure. Howev

I am a Registered Nurse and I was working a night shift at a hospital with a team of White colleagues. I was the only Black member of staff on the shift. I was looking after patients with my own allocated HCA and the other registered nurse was working on the other side of the ward with a different HCA. The Registered nurse and I checked medications together and the shift was going relatively well. I noticed that the other registered nurse then called her HCA to help her, but

My experience of racism in the workplace is real and painful because it's not only the racism but the wickedness that follows. The following account is my true personal experience. As a Nurse born in Africa I am brought up to treat everyone with love, respect and dignity. In my country of origin, the word racism only exists in the dictionary. Never in my wildest dreams did I envision being the victim of racism or being caught up in an institution that was built on a white s

Being a member of one of the largest unions in the UK for over 8 years paying my monthly subscriptions without fail. I was devastated with the way I was treated when faced with racial bullying, discrimination, unfair dismissal and referral to the Nursing and Midwifery Council. (NMC). Despite me being the only Black nurse in a very white environment and despite years of bullying towards me, when the allegations began to emerge against me, my union representative did not recogn

What is the name of your union? I am a member of one of the largest nurse unions in the country. How long have you been a member of your union? 14 years. "My union rep appeared to be discouraging me from raising my complaint as a racially motivated complaint". Has your rep ever represented you on an issue pertaining to race discrimination? If yes, can you explain what your case was about? Yes, I attempted to raise a grievance because I was being bullied; I knew this was a rac

How long have you been a member of your union? As a newly qualified nurse, I never considered joining a union as the environment was new to me and I could never in my wildest dreams have anticipated what happened to me. However, I decided to join 1 month prior to an incident of bullying, harassment and racist behaviour towards me. Did your rep represent you on an issue pertaining to race discrimination? No. My new union failed to act on my behalf, informing me that I had not

I have been a member of one of the largest nursing unions in the country for 11 years. I often wonder if I should just cancel the membership. My issue was not relating to race, however as a black woman and the trend of how harshly employers refer black practitioners to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). I am aware like the NMC, that my union cannot be trusted so easily. In hindsight, I know it could have been worse for me. I contacted my union due to a serious incident

Equality 4 Black Nurses is interviewing black nurses about the impact racism has had on them, in the hopes that more people feel empowered to speak up and demand justice. Our first interview is with our founder, Neomi Bennett BEM, multi-award winning Neo-Slip Inventor and Registered Nurse. Why did you want to become a nurse? I first decided I wanted to be a nurse when I was a very young girl, and I’ve always loved caring for people. Was there a moment you can pinpoint when yo

This has been the hardest time ever. I feel that my head is going to explode. My feet are walking, not with a pace of haste but with a foot drag because what is the point? It is like going through the doors of no return. My hands are moving but just enough to make sure I can pay my bills. I can manage only at the thought of getting another pay slip. But is that wage worth it? The workplace is dangerous. I am exposed to subtle and direct racism and discrimination from my colle

Full disclosure: I am a white, middle-class, middle-aged woman. And that is how I was when I came into nursing. I was 42 years old when I started my nurse training in 2003. After 18 years in magazine publishing, I was blown away by the diversity I found in the NHS. For the first time EVER, I was working alongside Black, Asian and Overseas colleagues, delivering care to an equally diverse patient population. I loved it. I loved the teamwork, the variety and the humanity involv

Today, we celebrate nurse Princess Campbell, not only one of Bristol’s first black nurses but also one of the first black ward sisters in the NHS and a pioneering figure in the activist scene in Bristol. Nurse Campbell came to the UK in the early 60s where she experienced racism both at work and in her personal life. This led her to actively fight for the rights of her fellow Black people from early on in her career until hear death. Nurse Princess Campbell was born in Kingst

Today, we discuss the programme “ Why Is Covid Killing People of Colour?” hosted by Black actor David Harewood on BBC One. It’s now been a just over a year since the pandemic first hit and it has been devastating to see the tragic effects it had on Black and Brown communities. In the programme, David investigates why Black and Brown people have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic and we will highlight some of the key findings in the programme. The programme star

Today, we celebrate Nola Ishmael, the first person from a non white background to become a director of nursing in London. She also was a nursing officer in the Department of Health from 1994 to 2003 where she contributed to the development of policies in areas such as public health, inequalities and the Mary Seacole Leadership Award which helps nurses develop their careers into leadership roles. Nurse Ishamel was born in Barbados in 1943. She came to the UK at the age of 19 t

This is an account of how the forgotten Black women of gynaecological history opened my eyes to structural racism. As a white woman I can confidently say that I have never experienced racism and to tell the truth, I have only just recently recognised this fact. I have also come to recognise that the Black and Brown people I love and call my friends and family will have experienced some level of racism at some point in their lives and that I have never acknowledged or discuss

Yesterday it was reported that a white nurse has won a whistleblowing case for complaining that her black colleagues were being given much more work than their white counterparts. The white nurse, Jeyran Panahian-Jand, who was working on the children’s ward at Whipps Cross Hospital in east London, also observed that her black colleagues were paid less. Managers asked her not to continue raising the issue because she was upsetting colleagues. However, she refused to let it dro