Unseen barriers to recruitment and retention

Nursing Homes, March, 2004 by John Booker

Having served for 27 years as a nursing assistant, home health aide, and personal assistant, among other titles given to individuals like myself who deliver care and personal services to other individuals in need, I can recall many personal highlights and some painful moments in a career that I love and continue to advocate.

Among some of the painful memories were my attempts to gain employment at one of the more desirable facilities in my city--desirable because of the pay and an ideal resident-to-aide ratio that every nursing assistant desires to better deliver quality care. After being told for the third time that this particular facility didn't have my application on file, I began to investigate, and soon found that none of my applications had made it past the receptionist's desk. The receptionist later told me that she tossed each one into the wastebasket because she believed that the administrator and the residents would not want an African-American male working in their wonderful private facility.

I was eventually hired by this facility after I demanded to see the DON and the administrator and personally handed them my application. About a year later the receptionist and I became friends; she had apologized to me for what she had done with my applications. She confessed to me that although her beliefs may not be widespread, they do indicate an unspoken belief that some might have about people of color.

This is just one example of the many unseen and unwritten barriers that people of color sometimes face in the long-term care workplace. But, if it weren't for the honesty of my friend the receptionist, I never would have known that some of these barriers existed. In her defense, I don't believe she was tossing my applications away because she didn't like African-Americans, but rather because she was upholding a common fallacy held among many in the profession: that choosing the right candidate is simply a customer service issue, and that people of color--especially black males--don't make very good candidates.

One of the most painful events in my career was when a lady whom I am honored to have called a best friend passed away in my facility. It wasn't just her passing away but also the events that followed her death that were painful. She was an 86-year-old Jewish lady who had become the toast of our facility. She was very well known because she was a celebrated author and was as sharp as anyone her age or younger. She was truly a treasure in our facility, and we became the best of friends--so much so that I became a fixture at all of her important personal events, such as birthday celebrations. I also accompanied her on her doctor visits, shopping trips, and trips to religious events. We had formed a bond that, in my opinion, was special.

So when she passed away, I was naturally affected, and when the administrator announced that he would be choosing someone to represent the facility at her funeral, I automatically assumed that it would be me. I was wrong--someone else was chosen. I was told later that it was the decision of the administrator and not family or friends--an administrator who didn't know or care about relationships, but cared more about public-relations images because cameras would be at the funeral, and they wanted someone more "acceptable" for marketing and customer-service purposes.

It was the second time that I cried. The first time was when she passed away, and I cried again not because of my color, but because I could not fulfill my dying friend's request: to be present when she was finally laid to rest. Again, the administrator was not, in my opinion, prejudiced, but based his decision on what he thought would be best for the facility.

There are more unwritten stories and unseen barriers experienced by some people of color. If we want to shore up the long-term care workforce during this unprecedented shortage that is growing daily, we can no longer afford to create barriers to our efforts. If we are ever to overcome all of the challenges posed by the long-term care staffing crisis, we must be courageous enough to face those challenges that may be the most difficult to admit to ourselves.

John Booker is President of the National Association for Direct Care Workers of Color. He is also Chair of the Male Nursing Assistants Task Force of the National Network of Career Nursing Assistants. For further information, phone him via the National Network at (330) 825-9342 or e-mail cnajeni@aol.com. To comment on this article, please send e-mail to booker0304@nursinghomesmagazine.com.

Voices From the Field presents brief essays and comments from the readers of Nursing Homes/Long Term Care Management. Send submissions to editor@nursinghomesmagazine.com or fax to (216) 391-9200.