The Happy Nurse Podcast: How Discrimination in Healthcare Endangers LGBTQ+ People’s Lives
According to research, there are over 9 million gay people and 1.5 million trans people in America. However, the average healthcare professional in the US receives about 2 hours of LGBTQ+ education only.
It is high time that healthcare providers understand their patients better.
In this episode, we speak with Shannon Whittington, award-winning & certified LGBTQ+ health expert on the importance of inclusion in the workplace and in healthcare. We delve in to what it’s like for LGBTQ+ people to live in a hetero-normative world and how they handle all the prejudices in families, communities, companies, and the healthcare system.
LGBTQ+ people have their own health disparities. It’s time to start learning about them and how healthcare professionals can provide patient-centered care without stigmatization, discrimination, or demoralization.
Discrimination in health care settings endangers LGBTQ+ people’s lives. This is why LGBTQ+ education and affirming LGBTQ+ people and their needs is key to building inclusion.
TOPICS WE DISCUSSED INCLUDE:
- LGBTQ+ have their own disparities (4:29)
- 28% of trans-people are rejected by healthcare professionals (5:33)
- LGBTQ+ community being afraid of discrimination (9:02)
- Legalization of same-sex marriage (9:40)
- Healthcare professionals give so much of themselves to their patients (10:45)
- Doing things that fill you up (11:50)
- Importance of quality sleep (12:00)
- It’s okay to do nothing (13:10)
- Celebrate you (15:40)
- Importance of self-care for healthcare providers (21:20)
- Being in a constant state of learning (26:00)
- Never stop learning (27:07)
- Big, audacious goal (28:40)
- Nurses’ mental health is suffering (30:00)
- Being client and patient-centered (32:14)
- Nurses are burning out (33:05)
- It is normal to be scared of the unknown (35:52)
- The importance of hydration (37:10)
- Non-binary people (39:00)
- Pronouns are so important (39:40)
- Caring for the LGBTQ+ community (41:52)
- Normalizing pronouns (40:19)
- No right or wrong answer when choosing your pronouns (42:59)
CONNECT WITH SHANNON WHITTINGTON
Connect with Shannon on LinkedIn
Subscribe to Shannon’s YouTube Channel
CONNECT WITH ELAINA MULLERY
Connect with me on Instagram and Facebook
Connect with me on LinkedIn
Subscribe to my Youtube channel
-| The Health Equity Podcast Channel is made possible with support from Bayer G4A. Learn more about how Bayer G4A is advancing equity, access and sustainability at G4a.health.
-| This episode originally aired on March 8, 2021 on The Happy Nurse. Listen, follow and subscribe here.