“Nurse Unseen,” a feature-length documentary shown at the Cleveland International Film Festival, was made to explore the hidden history of Filipino nurses who have a critical role in not only the pandemic, but also the entire American healthcare industry. Following Spain's defeat in the Spanish-American War of 1898, they ceded its longstanding colony of the Philippines to the United States as part of the Treaty of Paris. Filipino immigrants in search of the opportunities America had to offer found their footing in a new country, looking to start fresh. Their passion for helping others, which is wholly ingrained in Filipino culture, made the transition to nursing a logical next step. Without Filipino nurses, healthcare systems in many areas of the country would not have been established at all.
The film explores the impact of Filipino nurses who were at the bedside of countless patients in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. These dedicated caregivers were consistently targeted by anti-Asian hate groups in a violent finger-pointing campaign about the origins of coronavirus. Many of these nurses, whose families immigrated to America between the 60s and 80s, were encountered by a new brand of hate in a country they had been calling home for decades. These nurses, who cared for people’s mothers, fathers, grandparents, and siblings, did so at the expense of not only their own lives, but the lives of their own families too.
Sponsored by the Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion, John Carroll students, faculty, and staff were able to reserve tickets to the film; and their recollections of the experience were truly insightful.
Selen Zarrelli, Director of CSDI, remarked that watching “the stories of the Filipinx community and their family members, while caring for all of their patients and doing this work with a passion, was truly powerful.” The rawness found in scenes about scapegoating during the pandemic and the nurses’ undying passion for the trade during such a tumultuous time made the audience “cry and smile at the same time.”
Student attendees from JCU’s Black Students in Action were equally stunned by the powerful stories on film. Selena Alamir ’24, a Junior on the Pre-Med track studying Spanish and Peace, Justice, and Human Rights, remarked on the film: “My heart shattered when I learned that the largest non-white ethnic group of nurses that died from COVID-19 was Filipino nurses. The scariest statistic the film shared was that ‘about 4% of registered nurses in the US are of Filipino descent, but nurses of Filipino descent account for 31.5% of the workforce's COVID-19 deaths.’”
Not only does the film speak volumes for culture, human rights, and inclusion; it touches directly on the backbone of the Nursing profession as a whole. John Carroll’s Director of Nursing Melissa Cole and Assistant Professor of Nursing Shanna Botos have crafted a program with learning goals to “empower the next generation of nursing leaders who will transform healthcare through innovation, compassion, service, and excellence.” It is clear that the film is meant to inspire incoming healthcare professionals by keeping in mind the culture and compassion of their coworkers, and providing each other with respect and care in the workplace.
This film unearths a unique aspect of American history that is often overlooked, but has gained traction since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the overwhelmingly positive feedback from this film, CSDI is working to bring “Nurse Unseen” to campus for more in the JCU community to see. Follow CSDI and John Carroll University on social media for updates on when the film will be screened on campus