Why the World Needs Black Nurses.
Black women save lives. Period. Let's start there. As a black woman, I have definitely had my fair share of experiences in the medical field that weren’t exactly pleasurable to say the least. Oftentimes we get ignored, dismissed, and just flat out disrespected. We rarely ever have anyone who can relate to our experiences and who actually will take our complaints and illnesses seriously. As we all may or may not know, black women have one of the highest mortality rates in 2020 mostly due to negligence in the medical field. With that being said, I decided to interview probably one of the smartest, most amazing people I know for this blog post, my best friend Chelsea. She's been by my side since we were 7 and she's gone on to do amazing things with her life. My sis is officially a registered nurse! I sat down with her recently, and discussed why black nurses are absolutely needed in today's society. Here's what she had to say.
Me: Can you please state your name and title for me please?
Chelsea: My name is Chelsea Bien Aime, and as of right now I am a registered nurse. I’ve worked as a nurse tech for the first half of this year on a general surgery unit, then when the pandemic hit my surgery unit turned into a covid 19 unit so I was being floated from unit to unit such as the cancer units, psych units etc. For the future, I intend to be a certified nurse midwife so I can deliver babies and help black women.
Me: So what inspired you to become a nurse?
Chelsea: Well I didn’t choose nursing, nursing chose me. Pretty much divine intervention. I initially had plans on being a pediatrician, it was my goal since I was 4 and up until I went to college I was convinced that would be my career path until God intervened. I was in a class that I was failing miserably, so I decided to pray about it and one day when I was in that class, I just heard the word midwife. I wasn’t even sure what that was, but it was clearly what God wanted me to do.
Me: How has the journey to becoming a nurse been so far? Have you ever faced any difficult challenges or seen anything just absolutely insane while working?
Chelsea: So because of HIPPA, I can’t give any specific instances, but the journey to becoming a nurse has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life. While it was very rewarding, it was hard. I definitely doubted myself a lot of times. It’s just a matter of how badly do I want this? It tested my pride because school has always been easy for me. So when I got to nursing school I realized memorization wasn’t going to cut it. I needed to persevere and humble myself.
Me: In your personal opinion, do you feel as if black nurses face more criticism than any other nurse in your field? Is there more pressure to be great at what you do?
Chelsea: In my personal experience, I have not seen it but I’m not going to say it doesn’t happen. Nursing is weird because me being from Brooklyn, almost everybody black is a nurse. So in New York it’s a predominantly black field. But when you go to Georgia, which is where I lived for the past 4 years, it’s a lot of white nurses. A lot of blonde hair, blue eyes girls and it’s very rare you see any black nurses. But it does depend on the area. For my very first clinical my instructor was a black Jamaican woman and she was definitely hard on me. But it was for a good reason. She held me to a higher standard than anyone else because nursing is a dog eat dog world. I needed that push because the criticism is real.
Me: In 2020, a lot of black women have been dying from childbirth more than any other race. As a future midwife, how do you feel about that?
Chelsea: It’s called the black maternal mortality crisis. Black women are 3x more likely to die during childbirth than white women. It’s a race issue. They don’t tend to take our complaints seriously because there’s a false narrative going around that black women have a higher pain tolerance than most people. A lot of these deaths could be prevented, it’s all about catching the symptoms early enough. We rarely ever get justice in these cases. Hemorrhaging is such a big reason why women tend to die during childbirth and they rarely ever take it seriously when it comes to black women. It’s scary. Black women during slavery used to be tested on for medical purposes, yes tested on as in animal testing. All the pictures we have of the female anatomy comes from the pain of black women. Doctors would test on them, cut them open all for the sake of research. No anesthesia, no nothing. Black women have always been the prototype.
Me: Lastly, give some advice to black women who want to be nurses:
Chelsea: First things first, understand that you can do it. It is very much possible and it’s a very rewarding field. Don’t do it for the money because you'll never get paid enough to be a nurse. But if that’s what you love, go for it. You can do it.
Make sure to follow Chelsea on instagram @goodjobchels
All in all, black women, please please PLEASE speak up if you feel as if something is wrong. If your health feels as if it is deteriorating, if you can find fellow black doctors that care about you and will take the time to cater to your needs! As always you are loved, you are cherished, and your health comes first before anything. Stay safe!
Love,
Lea 💖
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