NURS 6512 Week 2 Discussion: Diversity and Health Assessments Sample Essay
NURS 6512 Week 2 Discussion Diversity and Health Assessments Sample Essay
Unique communication and effective self-awareness skills are required to improve patient-center care. There are specific socioeconomic, spiritual, lifestyles, and other cultural factors associated with patients throughout the health care arena. Encouraging the patient to communicate sensitive and private has its difficulties. Practitioners and other health care providers have to be non-bias and unconsciously aware of any self-behaviors that limit patients’ ability to disclose information needed to properly diagnose and treat illnesses including non-verbal communication. Developing and using effective diverse communication with all patients increases professional relationships between patients and providers. The patient assigned to me is a 32-year-old pregnant lesbian with vaginal discharge seeking help to mitigate her health disparity. In our course readings by Ball et al. (2019), it was said that LGBT patients should be particularly paid attention to with great detail and care. Ball et al. (2019) went on to say that these patients are unfortunately faced with bias throughout the health care system. Kano et al. (2016) explained how some socioeconomic disparities LGBTQs face is from lack of sufficient resources needed in clinics to be integrated into practice. Having a safe space is another socioeconomic disparity LGBTQ face worldwide. Goh (2018) explained that LGBTQ is faced with homelessness and violence. Rosentel et al. (2020) explained how other lifestyle factors include low-socioeconomic status, that increases LGBTQ risks of higher burdens of health disparities related to less accessible services.
Interviewing these patients, Practitioners must first gain competency in cultural awareness. Ball et al. (2019) explained how incorporating flexible and creative skills increases health care providers’ approach. Be honest with the patient with upfront limitations, expectations, knowledge base. Apologize when appropriate and encourage an organizational culture with strategies to stop the stigma against the LGBTQ population. I believe that being honest with the patient upfront can set a stage for transparency and credibility.
Five questions I would ask this patient are as follows:
- What would you like to be called?
- How do you identify yourself?
- Are you comfortable talking about this with me?
- Do you have a friend or a family member you would like to be present in the interview to make you more comfortable?
- Are there any concerns of fear from anyone in your home, neighborhood, school, or work we need to talk about?
NURS 6512 Week 2 Discussion Diversity and Health Assessments Sample Essay References
Ball, J. W., Dains, J. E., Flynn, J. A., Solomon, B. S., & Stewart, R. W. (2019). Seidel’s guide to physical examination: An interprofessional approach (9th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby.
Goh, K. (2018). Safe Cities and Queer Spaces: The Urban Politics of Radical LGBT Activism. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 108(2), 463–477.
Kano, M., Silva-Bañuelos, A. R., Sturm, R., & Willging, C. E. (2016). Stakeholders’ Recommendations to Improve Patient-centered “LGBTQ” Primary Care in Rural and Multicultural Practices. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine : JABFM, 29(1), 156–160.
Rosentel, K., VandeVusse, A., & Hill, B. J. (2020). Racial and Socioeconomic Inequity in the Spatial Distribution of LGBTQ Human Services: an Exploratory Analysis of LGBTQ Services in Chicago. Sexuality Research & Social Policy: Journal of NSRC, 17(1), 87–103.
Your post regarding the potential nuances of caring for LGBTQ females was informative. I also felt that your line of questioning was a good start to get some basic, helpful information related to her health and well-being. While there is a large quantity of evidence-based research and data surrounding heterosexual pregnant females and their care, the same is not so for LGBTQ patients; although, the information is on the rise given the changes to our culture. However, it will still be many years before a robust database will be available. As noted by Malmquist et al. (2019), healthcare providers often still address LGBTQ patients with a heteronormative undertone, that is mother/father directed, especially with forms and pre-printed material. As a heterosexual female, this is something that could easily be overlooked as offensive because we aren’t looking at patient information from the same lens. According to Malmquist et al. (2019), as well as others I have read specifically for this discussion post, the experiences in healthcare for LGBTQ patients have been a mix of positive and negative.
Another line of questioning to consider would be her thoughts on the sperm donor profile. Since the women are permitted to visualize the physical and other attributes of the donor, we can initiate conversation to the thought process behind the chosen donor. In the future, the child may want to know more about the other, biological side of their genetics. More recently, some information has become available to donor recipients that includes a donor profile including hobbies, education, and character traits, physical description, and even some inclusion of staff perceptions of the donor, a practice that originated in sperm banks that initially served only lesbian couples (Scheib & McCormick, 2016). Utilizing a sperm bank donor requires that the sperm be frozen which decreases the chances of conception (Scheib & McCormick, 2016). This may or may not have been her first round of insemination. This can become a profound source of financial and emotion stress if it’s taken multiple rounds to produce a pregnancy. There are several more layers to this patient’s pregnancy than surface value that need to be investigated and discussed in order to provide inclusive, well-rounded care.
NURS 6512 Week 2 Discussion Diversity and Health Assessments Sample Essay References:
Malmquist, A., Jonsson, L., Wikstrom, J., & Nieminen, K. (2019). Minority stress adds
Additional layer to fear of childbirth in lesbian and bisexual women, and transgender
People. Midwifery, 79, 1-7.
Scheib, J. & McCormick, E. (2016). Sperm donor, choosing a. In Goldberg, A. (Ed.),
The SAGE Encyclopedia of LGBTQ Studies (pp. 1109-1113). SAGE Publications.
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