homosexual patients

[miray19]

hello nurses,

my name is Miray and i am a nursing student in Lebanon. I have a presentation to make about homosexual patients and the care they receive by nurses so i need some help. If anyone has ever cared for a homosexual (male/female) then can you tell me what you did? how you reacted? and what you could have done to care for that patient better?

the answers can be anonymous if you want and this is not a topic of who is with or against i just want to show my classmates how people react differently to some situations.

thank you for reading and hopefully answering.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I react the same to homosexual patients as I do with heterosexual patients. A patient's sexual orientation or preference does not affect the care that I render.

[leckzieloo]

Part of nursing is caring for all patients regardless of religious beliefs, sexual orientation, race, ect; A homosexual patient is no different than any other patient and deserves the same care and compassion as anyone else.

[miray19]

what you guys say is very true but this is not being doing in hospitals. I have heard of so many stories about how the staff, whether nurses or doctors, have mistreated patients because of their sexual orientation.

[anotherone, BSN, RN]

Perhaps acceptance is different in US vs Lebannon. In my experience most doctors and nurses do not seem to care about or know about their pt's sexual orientation. As part of an assessment, risk factor identification, i suppose, i have seen some docotrs chart sexual activity in terms of male or female partners and birth control used etc ostly in a primary care visit or a gyn pt. sometimes infectious disease drs do also.

[miray19]

it is different between countries here the whole homosexuality concept is still not approved of but what i meant was that what i am learning now about being the patients advocate and such is not being applied everywhere, though its great that the doctors and nurses that you deal with don't care about these things.

[Sun0408, ASN, RN]

Maybe you will get a better response in your area. I have worked in several US facilities and sexual orientation does NOT come up. Oh and I should mention I am from the south or "redneck" country. Still it has been a non-issue...Yes, I have cared for many gay couples and my treatment of them is no different than a "straight" couple.

Whom they love has nothing to do with nursing care/medical care or need unless the other person is abusive but that's still no different than a heterosexual couple. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful but here it is a non-issue for the most part. Of coorifice I can't answer for all but just my observation.

[miray19]

No you guys hav been a great help this is just what i expected to hear. And what you told me makes my argument stronger on how were i live they really wouldnt treat a patient if he or she are homosexuals. People here are still not accepting as in other places and i hope that changes soon. Thanx again for your comments

[rubato, ASN, RN]

I'm only a student, but my clinical experiences have shown me that homosexual patients are treated exactly the same as heterosexual patients.

[psu_213, BSN, RN]

Adding to what someone already said...I would expect the answers from US nurses to be different than those from nurses in Lebanon. This is not a criticism of nurses from Lebanon, but there are cultural differences between the two countries and, I image, that many people in Lebanon view the issue differently that most people in the US.

I treat them exactly the same. When I go into a room, I introduce myself to the pt. If they have someone with them I ask (politely) who the person is....whether they say spouse/husband/wife, fiancé, friend, partner, mother, brother, etc. my reaction does not change--I welcome the other person also. If this is on a unit that has visiting hours, the hours apply to everyone, and, barring extreme circumstances, I am going to enforce the visitation rules equally no matter how the visitor is related to the pt.

[OnlybyHisgraceRN, ASN, RN]

I treat homosexuals the same as any other patient. That is all.

[uRNmyway, ASN, RN]

Just thought I would add to what the others say. A person's sexual orientation has nothing to do with the care they receive, as far as male/female. I don't know if I would be able to remain neutral or empathetic with someone who's sexual orientation was more a matter of age as opposed to gender, but I would certainly do my best to give them the best physical care possible.