Rendering LGBTQ+ Visible in Nursing: Embodying the Philosophy of Caring Science

Abstract

Although health care institutions continue to address the importance of diversity initiatives, the standard(s) for treatment remain historically and institutionally grounded in a sociocultural privileging of heterosexuality. As a result, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) communities in health care remain largely invisible. This marked invisibility serves as a call to action, a renaissance of thinking within redefined boundaries and limitations. We must therefore refocus our habits of attention on the wholeness of persons and the diversity of their storied experiences as embodied through contemporary society. By rethinking current understandings of LGBTQ+ identities through innovative representation(s) of the media, music industry, and pop culture within a caring science philosophy, nurses have a transformative opportunity to render LGBTQ+ visible and in turn render a transformative opportunity for themselves.

Online Tea Cafés: Using Caring Science to Transform Digital Learning Spaces and Advance Nursing Leadership

“…To understand the relevance of caring science as both a theoretical and pragmatic underpinning to online learning and its ability to re-imagine digital spaces, Goldberg et al (2017) begin with a review of the literature in relation to asynchronous online discussions, which served as the pedagogical foundation of the Tea Cafés. A brief overview of caring science will be addressed to set the stage for the framework of the course.…”

“…Using examples from the course, the authors demonstrate the ways in which the Tea Cafés (weekly, asynchronous online discussion activities), a pedagogical strategy grounded in caring science, fostered an engaged learning environment where students not only thrived and developed a real sense of community but also a deeper recognition of nursing leadership and the importance of reflexivity, compassion, and politicization in how to enact leadership practices, including those with historically underrepresented communities (Goldberg et al, 2017).…”

eHealth versus equity: Using a feminist poststructural framework to explore the influence of perinatal eHealth resources on health equity

“…Beyond the perinatal period, as eHealth technologies are rapidly increasing in popularity and often synonymous with a more modernised worldview, we may expect these resources to be better aligned with the current socioculturalpolitical landscape whereby LGBTQ+ communities have gained greater recognition (GLAAD, 2017). However, LGBTQ+ visibility remains relatively absent in nursing generally and in health care more broadly (Goldberg, Rosenburg, & Watson, 2017) and given that eHealth resources are developed in part by persons with a health care background, the invisibility persists into the eHealth context. All On the contrary, using language that dichotomises parenting, such as mother and father, was a recurrent theme found throughout the literature.…”

Teaching and Evaluation/Assessment Requirements for LGBTQI2S+ Health and Wellness: A Call to Include LGBTQI2S+ Content in Canadian English Baccalaureate Nursing Curricula / Exigences en matière d’enseignement et d’évaluation pour la santé et le bien-être des personnes LGBTQI2S+: un appel pour inclure du contenu dans les programmes de baccalauréat en sciences infirmières de langue anglaise au Canada

“…Brennan, Barnsteiner, de Leon Siantz, Cotter, and Everett (2012) state, "Faculty in schools of nursing need to incorporate content related to LGBTQI2S+ needs across the curriculum to help eliminate health care deficiencies and move toward the goal of health equity for all populations" (p. 103). Nursing, like all disciplines that prepare the next generation of health care providers, is working diligently to produce well-rounded knowledgeable health care providers, yet without appropriate education, recent graduates may not be prepared to adequately provide care to LGBTQI2S+ communities (Coleman et al, 2013;Goldberg, Rosenburg, & Watson, 2018;Lim et al, 2015).…”

“…Spenceley, Reutter, and Allen (2006) state that "the individually focused view has had the effect of limiting our [nursing's] assessment of the root causes of injustices or inequalities, leading us to pursue short-term one-off solutions to the individually experienced effects of systemic problems" (p. 183). However, nurses are uniquely positioned to significantly contribute to promoting health equity, justice, and wellbeing due to their large numbers in the workforce and influence on direct patient care (see Goldberg et al, 2018).…”