ESSAY: Plan of Care for Transgender Patient

Read the scenario below.
Outline a plan to address this patient’s concerns and the reason for admission. In your plan, be sure to:
identify interventions (with rationale) to support the patient.
identify interventions (with rationale) to address behaviors of the hospital staff.
Each student will respond to at least two classmates’ posts by offering support for the plan and offering suggestions to the plan.
Scenario: A nurse working on a medical-surgical unit admits a new patient who identifies as transgender. This patient has been called the wrong name and referred to by the wrong pronoun at the nurses’ desk. The patient is scared and wants to leave the hospital. What can the nurse do to develop trust, create comfort, and keep the patient engaged in care?

ANSWER

Individuals in the transgender community believe that they have a gender identity that differs from what they were assigned to at birth. For instance, if a male identifies as transgender then it means he feels more comfortable acting, dressing and behaving like a female, and the same is true if the individual is a female that identifies as a male. The preferred pronoun for this community is them, their and they. Despite their differences in gender identity, they are also entitled to receive the same kind of healthcare that everyone else in society has access to, without having to fear any form of bias or discrimination from the staff members, healthcare givers, and patients.

When it comes to professional and patient-centered healthcare, nurses should make sure that they are fully aware of the personal details that will make the delivery of their services to patients more effective and acceptable. In the scenario used the patient can take several measures to make the patient feel more comfortable and willing to stay in the hospital despite feeling offended. The first thing the nurse should do is sincerely apologize to the patient about the mistake made (Howard, 2018). Secondly, the nurse should ensure that they understand how the patient would like to be addressed by considering the name and the pronoun. Thirdly the nurse should always ask for the patient’s consent before disclosing their transgender status to other parties. Lastly, the nurse is to treat all patients the same irrespective of their gender identity, and also avoid making any offensive remarks or gestures that may make the patient feel discriminated against for their life choices.

The healthcare system can make use of several intervention strategies to support transgender patients. One of such strategies is the use of gender-affirming surgeries that allow the patient to acquire the characteristics that they best identify with (Howard, 2018). Doing this affirms the support that the medical staff has for their patients despite their different choices as compared to the norms in society. The second intervention that may help in supporting the transgender community patients is hormone therapy. When performing any medical procedures, the doctors should make sure that any medication used does not alter the patient’s transitions without their consent.

The nurses and other healthcare professionals can also take part in some necessary interventions. For example, the facility should hold meetings that address the issues that come with transgender issues as well as how to deal with them respectfully and professionally (Rowan et al., 2019) These meetings should help sensitize the nurse and other healthcare staff on the transgender community, therefore helping them give them their much-needed care without offending them or causing them to feel discriminated against. The transgender community is becoming a significant component of the modern society; therefore, making it crucial for all healthcare providers to understand and practice the intricacies needed to provide the best possible care to these individuals. It also encourages the facility to seek out the help of its local healthcare providers without having to feel embarrassed and ashamed of their identities which are a significant part of them. Learning how to identify with them and treat them in a way that does not offend them is…