As a Black nurse, you deserve to practice in environments where you feel valued, respected, and able to thrive as your authentic self.

While some healthcare institutions fall short in creating that welcoming space, know you have the power to inspire change.

Here are proactive steps you can take to encourage your employer to implement impactful initiatives ensuring nurses of color feel welcomed, included, and supported.

Propose Unconscious Bias Training

• Respectfully recommend leadership make bias mitigation training mandatory for all staff. Courses raise awareness of harmful microaggressions and common prejudices.
• Suggest bringing in experts tailored to the healthcare field who provide actionable tools to apply on the job. Turn thoughts into measurable improvements.
• Note training cultivates cultural competence, equal treatment, and empathy to provide the best care across diverse communities.

Advocate for Anti-Racism Policies

• Petition administration to enact clear anti-racism policies establishing zero tolerance for prejudice of any kind in the workplace.
• Propose transparent, accessible reporting procedures nurses can follow if issues arise without fear of retaliation.
• Define specific disciplinary consequences for racist behavior to demonstrate a serious commitment to equitable treatment.

Spotlight Need for Diverse Recruiting

• Highlight the benefits of emphasizing outreach at historically Black nursing schools and institutions when recruiting new graduates.
• Encourage intentionally inclusive hiring committees and interview practices that thoughtfully welcome candidates as their true selves.
• Note how perspectives from nurses of different races, ethnicities, and backgrounds inherently improve care, identifying blind spots.
• Emphasize outreach to nursing programs at historically Black colleges and institutions. Ensure representative hiring panels. Welcome candidates as their true selves.

Suggest Formal Mentorship Programs

• Propose the development of formal mentoring networks matching Black nurses with senior-level leaders for candid advice and advocacy. Guidance from seasoned role models provides confidence.
• Note access to candid guidance from seasoned mentors of color provides confidence and eases transitions for newer nurses.
• Suggest recruiting leadership to help match mentees and mentors purposefully based on experience, specialty, and personalities.

Start Employee Affinity Groups

• Volunteer to help launch employee resource groups specifically for nurses of color.
• Encourage affinity groups to meet regularly and speak honestly about challenges faced.
• Enable groups to share coping strategies and celebrate wins together during the journey.
• Build community, share coping strategies, and celebrate one another.

Measure Progress Consistently

• Petition leadership to issue periodic anonymous surveys measuring workplace sentiment on diversity and inclusion.
• Suggest tracking metrics on recruiting and retaining nurses of color to pinpoint successes and areas for improvement.
• Note consistent feedback identifies specific blind spots still requiring nuanced attention, enforcing accountability.

Create Diverse Leadership

• Request board-level and executive appointments of Black nurses and doctors. Representative leadership ensures all voices weigh into key decisions.

Encourage Allyship 

• Urge white peers to read literature on conscious allyship. Foster cross-race connections through shared lunches and reciprocal mentoring.

Progress requires vigilance. Honoring each nurse’s humanity ignites care resounding across communities. When workplaces demonstrate your life matters, your healing touch transforms lives immeasurably.

From a business standpoint, it’s also wise for healthcare providers to create safe spaces for Black nurses.

To retain and uplift exceptional Black nurses, healthcare institutions must proactively foster inclusive environments.

You play a powerful role in shaping the future of healthcare.

Through conviction, empathy, and partnership, your voice helps ensure that hospitals and related workplaces adopt initiatives that allow Black nurses to thrive. This article originally published on BlackTravelNurses.com