Nurse Practitioner Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs When Caring for Transgender People

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore Nurse Practitioner (NP) knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs when working with transgender people and to inform about Practitioner education needs.Methods: A qualitative descriptive design was used to explore (NP) experiences. Focused semistructured interviews were conducted in 2016 with 11 (N=11) NPs in the northeastern United States who represent various years of experience and encounters with transgender patients. The interviews explored NP knowledge attitudes and beliefs when caring for transgender patients and described their overall experiences in rendering care in the clinical setting. The interviews were professionally transcribed and analyzed independently and jointly by two investigators using conventional content analysis.Results: Four main themes and six subthemes were identified: Main themes include personal and professional knowledge gaps, fear and uncertainty, caring with intention and pride, and creating an accepting environment.Conclusions: NPs in this study perceive gaps in their knowledge that threaten their ability to deliver quality, patient-centered care to transgender patients, despite their best intentions. These findings have implications for changes in nursing practice, education, and research needed to address vital gaps in the healthcare of transgender people.

The epistemological construction of transsexuality: the science, nursing and common sense

“…Such strategies should cover the demands of care to the promotion of health of transsexual population, being developed and or improved by the health professionals in all stages of transition, in order to break the immobility of studies that subsidize the practice, including the one of the nursing that should be faced with priority by the profession. 24 The need to seek technological solutions, as well as the improvement of techniques and the re-orientation of the care model, should come from the demands of the common sense arisen from transsexual women in order to go along with Alves defines as the " right things" with the "desired effects". 11:13 In that way, the existence of an epistemologically deficient care model about transsexuality is not only achieved in face of the ideological and assistance format drawn up by the Policy of the Transsexualizer Process and may have been decisive in the interviewees´ narratives about the difficulty of fulfilment the demands of health in other health services.…”

“…Study carried out by the Faculty of Nursing of the University of Nebraska revealed that the nursing does not have significant knowledge or specialty to address the demand brought by this clientele that affects the quality of care provided. 24 The science, applied in the Policy of the Transsexualizer Process, is a specialization, 11 with technical and scientific deepening in the feminization of transsexual women, but it does not get fully exploiting the health professionals, since the nonallusion to the common sense and consequent partiality in the understanding and presentation of solutions to problems.…”

“…Authors refer that the nursing does not have significant knowledge or specialists readily accessible and available for the attendance to transsexual persons and that this compromises the quality of their care. 24 There is a need for nursing to become visible, present an active hearing of the desires and grasp the information provided by users, which the science understands as common sense, in order to promote a respectful and inclusive care to the demands presented. 28 These information should be offered to the scientific The epistemological construction of transsexuality Janini JP, Santos RS, Santos LFM, Souza VM community in order to validate them and enable epistemological constructions that qualify the nursing care to this clientele.…”

The Health of Trans Individuals and the Role of Nurse

“…[9][10][11][12][13] Hemşirelik mesleği özelinde incelendiğinde ise hemşirelerin de bu bireylere yönelik olumsuz tutum sergilediklerini, bu bireyler ve sağlık gereksinimleri hakkında yeterli düzeyde bilgi sahibi olmadıklarını gösteren çalışmalar mevcuttur. [14][15][16][17][18] Hemşireler arasında trans bireylere yönelik yaygın görülen tutumlar ön yargılı davranma, olumsuz tutum ile davranma, etiketleme, bilgi eksikliği şeklindedir. 14,[16][17][18] Bu çalışma, toplumda dezavantajlı konumda bulunan trans bireylerin sağlık sorunlarını, gereksinimlerini ve hemşirelerin bu kapsamdaki rolünü incelemek amacıyla hazırlanmıştır.…”

“…[14][15][16][17][18] Hemşireler arasında trans bireylere yönelik yaygın görülen tutumlar ön yargılı davranma, olumsuz tutum ile davranma, etiketleme, bilgi eksikliği şeklindedir. 14,[16][17][18] Bu çalışma, toplumda dezavantajlı konumda bulunan trans bireylerin sağlık sorunlarını, gereksinimlerini ve hemşirelerin bu kapsamdaki rolünü incelemek amacıyla hazırlanmıştır.…”