Abstract Objective To understand staff perspectives on racism experienced by both parents and staff members in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Study design Open-ended surveys and semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff at an urban level IV NICU from 2021 to 2022. Themes were generated and refined using thematic analysis. The main outcome constituted participants’ experiences of structural racism. Results 72 multi-disciplinary and racially and ethnically diverse participants completed the survey and 10 participants were also interviewed. Five major themes were identified: (1) a wide range of denial and recognition of racism existed, (2) workplace culture and relationships both protected against and facilitated racism, (3) staff experienced a lack of workforce diversity and minority tax, and witnessed (4) biased communication and language barriers, and (5) disparate resource allocation. Conclusions Similar to other healthcare worker and caregiver reports, NICU staff members also experience and witness interpersonal, institutional, and structural forms of racism.
Austin et al. (Wed,) studied this question.
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