Gay Boomers and nursing attitudes

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I read an interestiing article, in the NYT, today. Apparently the first wave of gay boomers have begun to hit our LTC, Assisted Living, home health agencies. And more and more of them are being belittled, receiving less then quality care, being transfered to units that are not appropriate to them because of other residents. I am wondering, has anyone encountered this yet? What has happen? What is your attitidue? What is being done to correct the problems?

Woody:balloons:

Specializes in Trauma ICU,ER,ACLS/BLS instructor.

It is interesting how this thread has progressed! I said about 7 pages ago,it would be a interesting thread. Great to be able to have an open,progressive,diverse,conversation in which we all can learn from. I am sure both gay and straight come away from reading the many comments a more informed and sensitive provider. Life is good when u can just click a few tabs and converse with so many wonderful,intellegent people who share a common bond!

Specializes in IM/Critical Care/Cardiology.
The one thing I liked about the AIDS Unit, at Sarasota Memorial, in 1986, it was so alive. The nurses were not hiding out in the nurses station. Partners were encouraged to visit. Catholic Priests, Rabbi, Ministers all visited the patients offering them support. It was quite a surprising, refreshing attitude, for a SW Florida hospital.

Woody:balloons:

Woody,

Thank you for this post and your information. I too, took a job associated with Sarsota Memorial in vascular surgery and agree it is a great hospital!

Specializes in icu, er, transplant, case management, ps.
Woody,

Thank you for this post and your information. I too, took a job associated with Sarsota Memorial in vascular surgery and agree it is a great hospital!

Gosh, when did you work there? It is a great hospital. I spent a week there, a few days after Charlie hit, on their cardiac surgery floor. And I had surgery there in January of this year. For the most part, they have an excellent nursing staff. For a couple of years, I had to visit their ER because of my asthma. The would whip me into a wheelchair, roll me back to the acute area and start treatment, unlike my local community hospital.

Woody:balloons:

Specializes in IM/Critical Care/Cardiology.

Woody,

I worked at SM in 1999-2000. Then took a job in Port Charlotte. Otherwise I was commuting 80 mies a day. In PC I worked for a cardiac group and alternated with the stress lab. Small world,right?

Oh, didn't you love the valee parking......First time I had seen that!

Specializes in icu, er, transplant, case management, ps.
Woody,

I worked at SM in 1999-2000. Then took a job in Port Charlotte. Otherwise I was commuting 80 mies a day. In PC I worked for a cardiac group and alternated with the stress lab. Small world,right?

Oh, didn't you love the valee parking......First time I had seen that!

I just love it. Which hospital did you work in, in PC

Woody:balloons:

Specializes in Cardiac Care, ICU.
You don't have to be comfortable with it, or use it yourself, just accept that it's now mainstream and don't be offended when you hear it or read it. We still have our own "n-word", which is the "f-word" It's highly offensive to pretty much everyone, but once in a blue moon only in the presence of other very close gay friends I might say it. But you can't. LOL Semantics can get a bit confusing.:lol2:

This thread is so enlightening! I wonder how many time I have offended someone unintentionally? I will try to remember not to say homosexual any more and I definitely won't use the other words!

Specializes in IM/Critical Care/Cardiology.

I worked for a Cardilogy group in PC just before you cross the bridge to Punta Gorda. (Cardilogy Assoc), worked for the president (then) of the company on office alt w/qweek in their myoview stress lab.. I'd bop into is it PC's regional hosp? I know they were the only one in PG that did heart caths also to check things out with a co-workr from research. I hated all of the hospitals, as I thought they were so dirty. I lived off Peachland while our house was being built. Good ole exit # 32.

Went Venus hospital when my son tried to commit suicide. That was a long trip, off Hwy 42. Ahhh we've travelled own some same paths maybe, or was it in Publix? lol

Specializes in Cardiac Care, ICU.
I'll throw in my 2 cents on semantics.

Calling it "the f-word" (or "the n-word") only means that we cause the reader to supply the offending word in their mind. I'm not sure why we (as a society) can't simply use the words if we feel like we have to. I think these circumlocutions are a symptom of our society's inability to deal with straight talk. (OK, that sounds funny given the present discussion, but you know what I mean )

In other words, I'm not suggesting insulting anyone, but why do we have to avoid the words in discussions like this?

B/c the words are so negatively charged. If we ever want to make progress toward a more understanding relationship among different groups, we have to have discussions like this, but we can't have them using the derogatory, biggotted slang of the past. Using the euphamisms is cumbersome in speech but it lets others know that we want to talk about this subject in a way that is not offensive to you.

If you can say it without offense then it must not be offensive. I dont see how words can take on a different "meaning" simply by the color of someone's skin or lifestyle. Otherwise people are not going to accept this and actually develop either resentment or the feeling that it is socially acceptable to use the word. Just like the "N" word, black leaders have came out and strongly denounced use of this word by anyone. You cant only denounce some people while turning a blind eye to other people.

If the word is truly that offensive, and I am aware of how offensive it is, in my opinion you would drop it from your vocabulary like I have.

Mabey, but when a group who has suffered having certain words spoken to them in hate I think it has a unifying effect to speak the word to each other. For instance there are several words and phrases that I don't mind my female friends using when refering to me or other women but I would be insulted if a man used them, not highly insulted but insulted none the less.

Specializes in ER, ICU, L&D, OR.

maybe they need a Gay Nurse Forum set up in All Nurses

Specializes in icu, er, transplant, case management, ps.

I posted this thread as an attempt to start a discussion about the attitudes of non-gay health care professionals, toward their patients who are gay, or homosexual, or transsexual, or even bisexual. And for the most part, this has been achieved. Some have denied they have any gay boomer's (I used the term boomer's because as of yesterday, the first person of that generation, filed for social security. And therefore the numbers would increase in facilities) in their facilities, although I do not know how they determined this. Others admitted they did and some were appalled at the attitudes of others toward openly gay patients or residents. Perhaps therein lies the answer of not having any gay patients, because they have learned to conceal their sexual orientation, rather then face the derision they received. And like it or not, just like any other group, that some in society believe is different from the majority, they are treated differently from the more acceptable groups.

Woody:balloons:

Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.
maybe they need a Gay Nurse Forum set up in All Nurses

Nope. We can handle ourselves very well in society as we've been doing all our lives, thus don't need a separate forum, we have the same issues in nursing as most of you do. Society sometimes can't handle us, but too bad. We're here.............

I posted this thread as an attempt to start a discussion about the attitudes of non-gay health care professionals, toward their patients who are gay, or homosexual, or transsexual, or even bisexual. And for the most part, this has been achieved. Some have denied they have any gay boomer's (I used the term boomer's because as of yesterday, the first person of that generation, filed for social security. And therefore the numbers would increase in facilities) in their facilities, although I do not know how they determined this. Others admitted they did and some were appalled at the attitudes of others toward openly gay patients or residents. Perhaps therein lies the answer of not having any gay patients, because they have learned to conceal their sexual orientation, rather then face the derision they received. And like it or not, just like any other group, that some in society believe is different from the majority, they are treated differently from the more acceptable groups.

Woody:balloons:

it's truly sickening, isn't it?

as another example re the fear and ignorance in society, i am beginning a long process of applying for a position in a public health hospital.

this facility is owned by the state.

the hospital exclusively serves the indigents (with a hospital-supplied homeless shelter), prisoners, medicaid recipients, uninsured, mentally ill, with a very notable focus to the AIDS population and latest research.

it has the latest technology, and a wonderful, wonderful reputation of its nsg staff.

yet, the people i have chosen to share this with, look at me incredulously...

that how could i even imagine wanting to work in a place like 'that'?

i have to smile, and shake my head.

it's truly disheartening to experience the dejection of those who are deemed unworthy of competent, compassionate care.

perhaps this is why this particular hospital is so segregated in its services?

that only those who choose to work there, are those with interests in working with these populations.

maybe, if there is a threat to the gay boomers, of being abandoned in their time of need, that select facilities should be created in treating another underserved segment.

you think medicare would see the need?:o

leslie

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