What Are the Benefits of Educating Nurses on Transgender Health?

Abstract

Transgender people frequently report negative experiences in health care settings. This is often due to a lack of cultural competence from health care staff, resulting in stigmatized and discriminatory attitudes and actions. With nurses having the greatest amount of patient interaction among health care professionals, this article examines the potential benefit of educating nurses in providing culturally competent care in the interest of improving experiences of health care for transgender people. At present, very few nurses are provided with transgender inclusive training whether as students or once registered, restricting the profession from progressing toward a transgender inclusive culture with culturally competent practitioners. The article recommends that nurses are provided with transgender inclusive education both as preregistered student nurses, and as registered nurses.