The purpose of this study is to discover how transgender persons feel they are treated by the nurses who care for them. This exploratory pilot study is relevant to nursing because there is a dearth of literature about what transgender means thus, there is little to no information for nurses about appropriate and sensitive care. Transgender persons may avoid seeking care because of fear of stigmatization and shame. The sample will consist of transgender persons who have been living as their respective reconciled gender. They may or may not have gone through sex reassignment surgery. Subjects will be recruited through personal contacts and word of mouth. Distribution of questionnaires will be via mail, hand distribution, and possibly email. Subjects will be asked to answer six open ended questions about a) personal feelings surrounding the nursing care they received, b) reactions of nurses if told about the reconciliation surgery, c) if they feel they are treated fairly by nurses, and d) perceptions of treatment changes before reconciliation compared to after reconciliation. Results of this study are important because it can assist nurses to understand transgender persons issues, resulting in more culturally sensitive care.
Session #1222 - Undergraduate Submissions
The 29th Annual MNRS Research Conference (April 1-4, 2005)