Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Dec 1;50(12):42-46.
doi: 10.1097/01.NURSE.0000721744.97686.b8.

The elephant in the room

Deborah C Roberts  1
Affiliations

The elephant in the room

Deborah C Roberts. Nursing. .

Abstract

Nurses of color refrain from speaking up when facing racism in their nursing practice from patients, White peers, coworkers, and higher-ups. Racism is the elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about. This article examines the barriers that may prevent nurses of color from speaking openly about racism and encourages all nurses to speak up and out against racism in nursing.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure
Figure
No caption available.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

  • Letters.
    Furlong B, Doerksen E. Furlong B, et al. Nursing. 2021 May 1;51(5):8. doi: 10.1097/01.NURSE.0000743068.86032.13. Nursing. 2021. PMID: 33885421 No abstract available.

References

    1. World Health Organization. WHO campaigns. Year of the nurse and the midwife 2020. www.who.int/campaigns/year-of-the-nurse-and-the-midwife-2020.
    1. Acosta D. Ackerman-Barger K. Breaking the silence: time to talk about race and racism. Acad Med. 2017;92(3):285–288. - PubMed
    1. US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Labor force statistics from the current population survey. 2020. www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat11.htm.
    1. Wilson DE. Treasury of Black Quotations. Lincoln, NE: Authors Choice Press; 2004.
    1. DiAngelo R. White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism. Boston, MA: Beacon Press; 2018.

MeSH terms