title: Racism in the chemotherapy infusion unit: a nurse's story.
abstract: Shortly before his death in 1995, Kenneth B. Schwartz, a cancer patient at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), founded The Kenneth B. Schwartz Center at MGH. The Schwartz Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and advancing compassionate health care delivery that provides hope to the patient and support to caregivers, and encourages the healing process. The Center sponsors the Schwartz Center Rounds, a monthly multidisciplinary forum where caregivers reflect on important psychosocial issues faced by patients, their families, and their caregivers, and gain insight and support from fellow staff members. In this article a nurse relates her experience as caregiver for a patient who made repeated racially motivated comments. She reflects on her response and the support she received from her colleagues.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Cancer Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. lschapira@partners.org
authors.forename: Lidia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schapira
authors.forename: Leah
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gordon-Rowe
authors.forename: Rosalba
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Martignetti
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Washington
authors.forename: Mimi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bartholomay
authors.forename: Donna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Greenberg
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lathan
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: LaFrancesca
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lynch
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chabner
mesh_terms: D018288:Carcinoma, Small Cell / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D009726:Nurses; D009859:Oncology Nursing / Q000941:ethics*; D011287:Prejudice