How do we build wealth and financial security as Black Female Nurses?
Tweet by David Ring RN
I have stopped reading any reports that come out about racism at work and society because as a Black Woman, I live it everyday and no report or survey is going to tell me what i and other Black people do not already know. Reports and surveys without actual change and actions do nothing but perpetuate the racial trauma we already experience. So when i saw the above tweet highlighting an NMC report about Black African Nurses, i was not surprised, because again, it is something i have talked about and written about. I chucked it up to another casualty of racism and how it frames our careers and lives as Black Nurses.
As days went by, this tweet stuck with me and i reflected on the ways racism and the status quo goes on to affect every aspect of our lives as Black Nurses. Nursing is a predominantly female profession and so it stands to reason that those most affected by the statistics reported by the NMC report would be Black female nurses. Nursing is a career and a career implies progression, climbing the ladder or whatever it is you want to call it! But is it just a job and not a career when your gender and race are barriers to your progression?
Countless studies and reports have shown that women earn far much less than their male counterparts in all parts of society( google can be your friend if you want to read all about it), not to mention the time off and part time working that women have to take on, if they want to start and raise a family. This gap in payment also translates to pensions thus affecting women’s retirement. As Black female nurses we get to fight on two fronts, the gender pay gap and the ethnicity pay gap, add the lack of career progression into the mix then you start to get the stark and bleak picture that this all paints for our futures!
I have not worked in the care home sector, so really can not speak to work and career progressions within that sector but i’m sure it holds the same prospects for Black Nurses as in any other sector: cheap labour and barriers to progression. As for the agency sector, it holds no progression whatsoever but provides that work flexibility that doesn’t exist with a substantive post, without the job security( but then again is job security a luxury afforded to us Black Nurses?)! More often than not, we sacrifice our dreams and hopes for that fulfilling career as a nurse( and i’m not talking about job satisfactionhere), and buckle down and work the hand that we have been dealt, as we have our immediate and extended families depending on us both here and abroad( back home), as well as the ever present bills and everyday living costs.
How do we ensure that we secure ourselves financially in the present and for the future? That we have something to show for all our hard work and that we can retire and live comfortably with our health both physical and mental, intact? That we can build or start to build that generational wealth? That we can leave our children better off? While the nursing path career now has more choices than just bedside nursing, we as Black Nurses, especially female nurses, have to find a way to diversify like some of our white colleagues who have taken to providing beauty treatments like botox or like Doctors and other Allied health professionals who can open a private practice We can not just rely on that one income stream from working for a care home or agency. How do we make our nursing NMC PIN work for us?
I can not pretend to have the answers as to how we can secure ourselves financially, i will leave that to the experts, but i hope this post starts a conversation, starts something, a spark, a desire to learn about wealth management, to have wealth, blessed wealth, to live comfortably , to not shy away from the notion that we are worthy, worthy to live a comfortable and financially secure life.
If you are looking for some direction or inspiration, then i would recommend reading ‘The Professional Troublemaker: The fear fighters manual’ https://amzn.to/3uHMLbYby Luvvie Ajayi Jones and also listening to the podcast as well. Another great book to read would be ‘The Power of Expertise’ https://amzn.to/3HJaQXVby Elle Pierson RN and ‘We should all be Millionaires’ https://amzn.to/3BqbFAWby Rachel Rodgers another one would be ‘Get Good with Money’ https://amzn.to/3W5XSHtby Tiffany Aliche. You can also follow their accounts on social media for hints and tips if reading is not your thing( you can get them in audio format as well!).
Here is to taking charge of our financial security and to a better future as Black (African) Nurses!
