Nursing union called to become an “anti-racist organization”

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The nurses demanded that the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) take action against racism and shared personal stories of the discrimination they faced during their careers.

At the RCN’s annual congress this week, held in Brighton, an emergency motion was tabled and debated calling on the college’s governing body to ‘ensure that the RCN is an anti-racism organisation’.

“It is not enough to be non-racist. We must be anti-racist”

Ruth Oshikanlu

The motion tasks the RCN with stamping out racism both in the nursing workplace and within the union itself.

Nurses took to the stage to share their experiences of racism in the workplace. Others expressed their support for the colleagues concerned during the debating session held on Tuesday.

Jim Blair

Jim Blair, a nurse from north central London, moved the motion and pointed to the Michelle Cox case and the Carr review as evidence that more needed to be done to support black and ethnic minority nurses.

The Cox case saw a black nurse win a historic legal battle against the NHS after suffering racial abuse from colleagues and bosses, while the Carr review in MRC culture raised concerns over the racism within the union.

The Carr review specifically said black and minority ethnic nurses did not feel “welcome” in the RCN.

This is extremely important, Mr Blair said. The Cox case showed that there is a problem with racial harassment by fellow nurses and “otherness” in the workplace.

It is possible that many will leave the profession, which will have a further impact on the shortage of nurses.

Mr Blair said it was no coincidence that, as a white man, he was the one bringing the motion forward. He said it shouldn’t be left to black nurses and ethnic minorities to get in the spotlight every time.

Our colleagues in the global majority have shared their lived experience in these debates, causing further trauma for years,” he said.

If we want to make it a real anti-racist organization, we have to explore racism from a universal point of view; the aim is to ask the board to explore whiteness, otherness and its impact on our colleagues.

Ruth Oshikanlu

Ruth Oshikanlu, from south-east London, said racism should not be left to a few people and it is certainly not the responsibility of those who face it.

It is not enough to be non-racist, said Dr Oshikanlu. We must be anti-racist.

This is not the time for frailty, nor the time to deny our privilege or be willfully blind.

Now is the time to feel bad.

North East London nurse Manana Sakupwanya told the congress crowd about some of the racial slurs and abuse she had hurled at her.

I say these things slowly so you can think, Ms. Sakupwanya said, as a black person, as a white person if these things were said to you, how would you feel?

We need our MRC to stand up and say it is an anti-racist community.

Rosemary Oji

Rosemary Oji, from the RCN East of England branch, recalls being asked, despite having lived in the UK for over 35 years, to take a TB test at the work because Nigeria, her home country, had a higher rate of the disease.

Ms Oji told her managers about it, but said she hadn’t heard anything since reporting the incident.

RCN President Sheilabye Sobrany said she knew members of her family were suffering from serious health problems as a result of racist abuse.

I have family and friends, some of whom died of racism, she said. The experience killed them.

The bullying and harassment caused such stress that they had a stroke or fell ill.

As a nurse, it’s so scary; you are constantly operating in a place of fear.

“It almost made me drop out of the class I love”

Mohammad here

I want every nurse to feel that they can approach any member of the union and get that support without fear or trauma in their mind.

Ms Sobrany said she also had experience of people feeling underrepresented by their union when they filed complaints of racism.

Sheilabye Sobrany

More than a dozen nurses gave their personal reasons for supporting the motion, ranging from racial abuse towards them to stories they heard from friends and families.

The debate heard that in addition to registered nurses, students also suffered severe abuse.

Mona Mohamud, a newly registered nurse, said that as a student she experienced outright racism from a mentor.

It almost made me drop out of the class I love, she says. Please, please can we look at each other and make a change.

In an earlier debate about unconscious bias in the profession, other nurses also advocated for anti-racism in the RCN.

Zeba Arif, a retired mental health nurse, recalled an incident from when she was a nursing student: It was Ramadan, and I told the nurse in charge that I had to delay my break until sunset, so that we can break quickly.

The neighbor sister asked me: what did you just say? She turned around and told me to leave these practices for when you get home. You are in England now.

The anti-racism motion was overwhelmingly supported by nursing members, with a vote share of 577 against four against.

This motion came after an emotional debate on racism also took place on the first day of the RCN Congress 2023.

During the first debate, which focused on the legacy of Windrush, African and Caribbean nurses said they felt little had changed in the 75 years since the NHS began protecting foreign nurses from exploitation.

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