I can Never be too Comfortable: Race and Emotion at the Hospital Bedside

• In Event: 375 - Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities Paper Session. Of Course They Wear White Coats: White Space in Healthcare, Implications for Education and Practice

Abstract

This article explores how racial dimensions of nursing in the U.S. shape the performance of emotional labor for nurses of color. Based on audio diaries collected from 48 nurses from two Midwestern U.S. hospital systems, we illustrate the processes by which the white institutional space of American hospitals creates a complex environment wherein nurses of color must navigate racial microaggressions, and women of color navigate dynamics of gender and race while simultaneously providing quality patient care. In this environment, nurses of color generally, and especially women of color, experience an emotional “double-shift” (Evans 2013) as a result of negotiating patient, coworker, and supervisor interactions. In confronting uniquely racial encounters, nurses of color experience additional job-related stress, must perform disproportionate amounts of emotional labor, and experience depleted emotional resources that can negatively influence patient care. The results extend recent theoretical work on race and emotion by tracing both the sources and consequences of racialized emotional labor for nurse and patient well-being within the context of hospital care.

Authors

• Marci D. Cottingham, University of Amsterdam

• Austin H Johnson, Kent State University

• Rebecca J. Erickson, University of Akron