Out Lesbians in Nursing: What Would Florence Say?

Abstract

Research and education on lesbian health has increased substantially in quantity and quality in the past 40 years, but little of this work has been produced by nursing scholars. We began our academic nursing careers as out lesbian faculty at the same college of nursing in the late 1980s, where we collaborated on the earliest studies of attitudes about lesbians in the nursing profession. Our paths diverged in the early 1990s, but we shared similar experiences in nursing education that highlight the structural and attitudinal barriers within nursing that have inhibited lesbian health studies. The deeply imbedded lesbian phobia within nursing has historic roots that plague contemporary research, education, and practice. In this article, we discuss the inclusion of lesbian health in nursing, share some of our personal stories about the obstacles we encountered, and end with suggestions for changing this stifling climate for future generations of lesbian health scholars.

rtuguese Nursing Students’ Attitudes towards Lesbians: From Prejudice to Recommendations for Change

“…Furthermore, information about lesbians and prejudice remains insuffi cient, especially in the nursing sector (Randall & Eliason, 2012). The participants of this study may also perceive other contexts as simply more discriminatory, what might constitute a concerning factor given the levels of homophobia found in healthcare contexts (e.g., Campo-Arias et al, 2010).…”

“…More information about this community should be provided during nursing training. The inclusion of information about lesbians in nursing manuals and curricular programs seems to be very important to avoid marginalisation and invisibility of this community (Randall & Eliason, 2012). Therefore, nursing schools should provide general training and education about LGBT issues and more specifi cally about lesbians, in order to prevent prejudice against this group of patients, but also as a way of tackling specifi c health care needs of this group.…”

“…The development of knowledge and positive attitudes towards the lesbian population is thus of utmost importance for an area as crucial as health, where marginalisation poses real and serious risks to the physical and psychological integrity of this particular patient group (Randall & Eliason, 2012).…”

“…Whereas the literature focused on nursing students' attitudes towards the LGBT population is sparse, the literature specifi cally on lesbians is even scarcer (Randall & Eliason, 2012). One particular study with female nursing students stands out by reporting fi ve main stereotypes/ themes about lesbians, suggesting that they: seduce heterosexual women; would like to be men; are very ostensive; have a negative infl uence on children; or contribute to the propagation of sexually transmitted diseases.…”

LGBTQ Identity, Nursing Education, and Culturally Safe Care: Suggestions for Educators

“…Research that explores the preparedness of nurses and other healthcare providers to care for LGBTQ individuals finds that the majority of students lacked sufficient knowledge to be able to provide care [ [21]. These same researchers also frequently found that faculty and educators also felt ill-equipped to teach LGBTQ content.…”