Florida National University LGBT Faces Discriminatory Practices Discussion

There are numerous challenges the U.S. health care system is facing, one of which is treatment of the LGBTQ community. One of the major social trends is the growth of the LGBTQ population. According to Meerwijk and Sevelius (2017), there are about 390 LGBTQ adults per 1000,000. This population is expected to increase significantly in the near future.

One area where the NP can improve and promote advocacy for the LGBTQ community is in reproductive services. LGBTQ people have the right to safe abortion services, access to contraceptives, sexually transmitted infections (STI) testing and a range of other health services free from stigma, discrimination or coercion. People who identify as LGBTQ can get pregnant, and young lesbian and bisexual women disproportionately experience unintended pregnancy.

The NP can help provide accurate, comprehensive sex education to young LGBTQ people, and they can also help spread information about bias and misrepresentation of the LGBTQ population to community leaders.

The NP may also begin by advocating for research that focuses on the group and on its structural factors. It can be said that a lack of research in one’s community can greatly affect and increase, among others, the percentage of homosexuals with HIV infections. For instance, one may conduct evidence-based practice projects in his or her community to see the percentage of cases that arise due to genetics, health behaviors, and social characteristics of the community (Page, 2012); factors which may influence the number of HIV cases. Afterwards, one may push for educational programs in one’s healthcare facility that inform HIV infected LGBTQ individuals how to prevent opportunistic infections. This may be accomplished by training nurses to provide appropriate educations to individuals struggling with the infection. Lastly, one could strive to educate nurses on the healthcare organization on the importance of treating members of the LGBTQ community with the same care given to other patients with the goal of preventing discrimination against the community (De Leon, 2015). This may be achieved by conducting a mandatory educational class on the topic for all healthcare providers in one’s organization.

With this in mind, the Essential that most relates to this topic is the first Essential which focuses on a student’s background knowledge of Sciences and Humanities. This Essential is important because as stated in this discussion, the principle highlights the importance of following the nursing process and evidence-based practice for safe and effective patient-centered care (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2011).

References

American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2011). The Essentials of Master’s Education in Nursing. Washington, DC: Author American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Retrieved from http://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/42/Publications…

Carabez, R. M., Eliason, M. J., & Martinson, M. (2016). Nurses’ Knowledge about LGBTQ

Patient Care. Advances in Nursing Science, 39(3), 257-271.

doi:10.1097/ans.0000000000000128.

De Leon, E. (2015). Gay and Racial/Ethnic identities, perceived discrimination, and participation in collective action. Available from ProQuest Central. (1767386662). Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1767386662?acc…

Page, M. J. (2012). Community level factors and HIV among marginalized populations in the united states. Available from ProQuest Central. (1040846909). Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1040846909?acc…