Author: Peggy L Chinn

feminist, nurse activist, writer, founding editor of ANS Advances in Nursing Science, quilter, grandmother nurturing the future of the amazing children in my life.

A Time for Action! Join!

Many of us have done our share of moaning and groaning about the lack of LGBTQ visibility and action in nursing – action to educate all students about LGBTQ health, action to speak out against homophobia that effects all of us, action to support LGBTQ research.  So now is the time to recognize a great opportunity to get involved in a way that can begin to change the status quo!  This opportunity is [drum roll!] the GLMA Nursing Section!  This is not the very first organized attempt to address LGBTQ issues in nursing, but it is the very important contemporary opportunity that is available to all!  Even if you think that there is next to nothing that you can do, you can join GLMA and the Nursing Section. Downtown_Portland_-_Travel_Portland Your membership is a vitally important statement of solidarity in this historic event to bring nursing to the table where the voices of LGBT activists are indeed heard, and where concrete action is happening.

To join, go to the GLMA web site and set up your membership today!  While you are there, check out what is planned for the September GLMA Nursing Summit and GLMA annual conference in Portland, Oregon.  We posted the tentative agenda for the Summit on this blog earlier this month, and the planning team is hard at work getting everything ready for a productive and inspiring time together!  We will post more information here (and on the GLMA nursing email list) as we get closer to September.  Of course all of this is to inspire you to join us if you can, but even if you can’t, your being connected and informed if in fact an action!  So stay tuned to stay informed, and pass along this information to everyone you can possibly reach!

Just Published – Clinical Care for Transgender Patients with Cancer by Nathan Leavitt

Nathan Leavitt’s article titled “Clinical Care for Transgender Patients with Cancer”has just appeared in the June issue of Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing.    Here is the citation information: CJON 2015, 19(3), 362-366 DOI: 10.1188/15.  You can also access the article here!

Congratulations to Nathan!

 

GLMA Nursing Summit – September 24, 2015

Yes indeed!  Our 2015 GLMA Nursing Summit is coming up soon, and early-bird registration is even sooner!  To get the best possible rate for your conference registration, do it before July 29th.  Check out the details here.  The flat rate for the Nursing Summit is $125, which includes a networking lunch!

This will be a very important opportunity as we celebrate the completion of our first year as a GLMA Nursing Section, and our third Nursing Summit! As in the years past, this is a marvelous opportunity to bask in the glow of being in a community where LGBTQ identities are celebrated, and share our common hopes and dreams for the future of LGBT health for ourselves and for those we serve!

Here is the preliminary agenda that the planning chair, Caitlin Stover, just sent!

The goal of the GLMA Nursing Summit is to bring together LGBT and ally nurses and nurse supporters to further the GLMA Nursing Section Action Plan to improve critical LGBT issues in the nursing profession. The summit will provide a forum for mentorship, support, and networking for attendees in the areas of research, education and training, policy, climate, and patient care.

  1. Describe the development of the GLMA Nursing Summit and Section, including foundational accomplishments in nursing related to LGBT health.
  2. Review and build upon the progress made by GLMA Nursing Section workgroups (education and training, patient/clinical care, policy, research, and climate) over the past year.
  3. Apply new skills to facilitate workgroup outcomes.

Agenda:

11:00-12:00 Welcome & Introduction to the Nursing Section of GLMA

12:00-12:45 Networking Lunch

12:45-1:30 Excellence Award/ Keynote Speaker–Christine Tanner

1:30-1:45 Break & Posters

1:45-2:45 Skills Building Breakout Session (TBD-but we anticipate three different breakouts that will meet for the hour, participants chose one)

2:45-3:00 Break & Posters

3-3:45 Work Group Meetings

3:45-4:30 Nursing Section Business Meeting (includes the workgroup reports)

4:45 GLMA Plenary

 Here is a little preview — a video from the Oregon ACLU featuring Christine Tanner and Lisa Chickadonz, which shares their journey fighting first for domestic partner benefits in Oregon, and more recently for marriage equality!  Many of us know Chris as the former Editor of the Journal of Nursing Education, and as a leader in revolutionizing connections between AD and BS nursing programs nationwide!  As you see from the agenda above, Chris will be our honored guest and Keynote Speaker!

Just Published! “Meeting the Needs of the Transgender Nursing Student” by Pam Levesque

Congratulations to Pam Levesque, whose article has just been published ahead of print in Nurse Educator!  Here is the link to the online article on the publisher’s web site, or you nurseEducatorcan access it through your academic library!  Here is the full citation!

Levesque, P. (2015). Meeting the Needs of the Transgender Nursing Student. Nurse Educator, Published Ahead of Print. doi: 10.1097/nne.0000000000000163    Retrieved Apri 19, 2015, Retrieved from http://journals.lww.com/nurseeducatoronline/Fulltext/publishahead/Meeting_the_Needs_of_the_Transgender_Nursing.99920.aspx

Education and Training Workgroup – Call for Feedback!

Caitlin Stover, who is the leader for our Education and Training Workgroup, is calling for feedback from Nursing Section members!  They are examining the American Association of Medical Colleges recent document titled “Implementing Curricular and Institutional AAMC LGBT Publication_CoverClimate Changes to Improve Health Care for Individuals Who Are LGBT, Gender Nonconforming, or Born with DSD,” and are considering ways in which the recommendations in this publication can be transferred to nursing.  And they want out feedback on this!  Caitlin tells me that we do not have to read the entire paper (unless of course we want to!) and we do not have to answer all of their questions … but any feedback we can provide will be be very helpful!

You can download the entire document for free here.

Here are their questions!

1. What do you think about the document, and its significance in helping the profession of nursing promote LGBT education and training?

2. What aspects of the document can we adopt to nursing education?

3. What aspects of the document are being done in nursing already?

4. How do we facilitate implementation in nursing?

5. What challenges do you think that the profession will encounter and how can we overcome them?

Patient & Clinical Care Workgroup 2014 Summary and 2015 Action Plan

Nate Swift-Erslev, our Patient & Clinical Care Workgroup leader, has posted their 2014 Summary and 2015 Action Plan!   It is available on their workgroup page here

One of the early steps in our workgroup’s action plan is creating an office and break room poster for nurses and other providers that has basic questions related to sexuality, reproductive and gender health to improve care of LGBTQI patients.  They have drafts under review now, so watch for more information on this exciting project coming soon1

New Role for GLMA Nursing Chair-Elect at the National Cancer Institute

I am delighted, and so proud to announce that

Michael Johnson

Michael Johnson

Michael J. Johnson, chair-elect of the GLMA Nursing Leadership Team, will soon be transitioning into a new role. He was recently accepted into the highly competitive and respected Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program, a four year post-doctoral research and leadership fellowship program at the National Cancer Institute. The fellowship starts June 2015.

Michael’s current research focuses on investigating factors that influence cervical cancer screening among LBQ women and transmen. Although he is unsure if cervical cancer will remain his focus during the post-doctoral fellowship, he will continue to focus on cancer prevention among LGBT populations. In addition to bringing his expertise in LGBT populations to the National Cancer Institute, he will also be one of the few nurses in the fellowship program.

Michael and his husband Matthew will be relocating to the Washington DC area next summer.

Meet Kaity Molé, our Student/Health Professional in Training Representative!

Kaity Molé RN, BSN is a recently graduated nurse from the Johns Hopkins School of kaitymoleNursing. She currently works in reproductive health and abortion care at Planned Parenthood as well as at a local domestic violence shelter providing community health education, counseling and healthcare referrals. Kaity is the current director of Baltimore Doulas for Choice and has been a birth and abortion doula for 2 1/2 years. She will soon be continuing on into her DNP in Nurse-Midwifery/Public Health Nursing and is passionate about providing quality care to the LGBTQI population and approaching her work from a reproductive justice and anti-oppression framework. You can learn more about her current work and find resources on LGBTQI birth, parenting and reproductive health on her website, www.queermidwife.com