Beverly Simpson has been a registered nurse for over 25 years and loves her career. However, she took to social media recently asking the Minister for Health to tackle racist abuse after an incident in a private care setting over the weekend.
Beverly said that she considered quitting her profession after the incident in which she was targeted with racist slurs for several hours.
Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle, Beverly said: "It is not minor, it has a major impact on our mental health. I want to be here, I love Derry. I want to be a nurse I have always been a nurse and I was a nurse for over 10 years before I came here and I never realised that I was placed in such a vulnerable position and I actually questioned myself, to walk away.
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"I tweeted about racist abuse I had for a couple of hours in my shift. I was so frustrated that I sent the tweet and I was hoping that any other nurse that has faced abuse will not feel alone and that someone else is recognising that abuse is going on. It went on for hours.
"I felt like quitting and that was the point. There was a nastiness there. You have to wear my shoes. I can't explain it, you have to actually identify with me.
"I feel consoled with the support. It is a difficult situation because it is a patient. But I am in a good place this morning.
Beverly said that there needs to be "conversations around how to be an ally."
She said: "It has become so normal, especially in the private sector. They are trying to normalise it which makes it worse because then you do not feel you have a right to say anything, you should suffer in silence. They think it is normal, it is so bad.
"The people in management, it is nobody's fault of course that the majority are white and minority are black, but it would be helpful is someone up there could identify with us and understand exactly what we are saying.
"I would like the minister and those in authority to try and identify with me. There must be something that they can do to protect people like me.
"I know it is just a minority. I knew that on Saturday night. But a minority can create such a storm and disrupt so many lives."
In recent research by the BMA, 85% of respondents from Northern Ireland had experienced racism in the past two years, higher than in the rest of the UK. 26% of respondents had considered leaving their job due to racist behaviour.
The Department of Health said that racism in the healthcare sector is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated.
In a statement they said: "Racism, in any shape or form, is not something that any colleague in HSC should have to endure. We want to send a clear message, from the very top of out health and social care system, that such behaviour is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated. We fully recognise and respect the hard work, commitment and dedication of HSC staff from within the BAME community."
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