penny0314

One other thing: I see you have experience with Informatics. Interested in helping in that area?

A good deal of this was addressed in the recent conference, and our brand new President is Becky Allison, who is a MTF transgendered lesbian and a delight. OK. You need to go to glma.org. Hopefully we will have more on the developing nursing caucus on their very soon!

Vincent, There were many, many presentations and workshops to choose from, as well as plenary sessions. The range is from genetics and sexual orientation, to addressing the actual research on the "downlow", to housing and healthcare issues for GLBT seniors in the UK (which is relevant here). Also, I would be happy to keep you posted on the developments with the Nursing Caucus.:specs

These suggestions are wonderful. TED hose definitely help with dependent edema. Just one note: these stockings are often called "antiembolism" (against blood clots) stockings and purportedly used to prevent clots in the legs. Don't kid yourself. Studies have shown them useless for that. To prevent clots, try elevating the legs and doing some range of motion exercises regularly. TED hose without both those measures are useless against clots, and there's some evidence they may contribute to them.

Well, aside from those of us who are allergic to eggs (and I am allergic both to eggs and to Tamiflu!), we don't have a vaccine with any history and very limited testing. Further, it appears with H1N1, the older you are the less risk there is from this flu. Further, those born before 1958 seem to have little or no response to the virus. I am 61, I had it in the first wave, and was very mildly ill for 2-3 days only. Assuming I could take the vaccine, it might have made me sicker than the flu. We are professionals and can certainly judge for ourselves whether to risk this vaccine!

I live in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. We have 1 community college with no waiting list, but you must have completed your prereqs before applying, and it takes between 3.5 and 4.0 GPA. We have other schools (e.g., St. Petersburg College) with a 2 year waiting list. The biggest problem is that the nation's nursing schools are still paying very poorly--I would take at least a $20,000 a year cut in pay to teach!

I have long searched for a LGBT nursing association. At least in Florida, none exists. What I did find was the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association--hold on--this is for ALL healthcare professionals. I went to their annual conference last week in Washington, DC. I was struck by the MDs their, almost all of whom are committed to a team model for health care--with a strong understanding that they are not "MDeities", but part of a team which includes the patient, the nurse, other health care professionals, and the doctor. The thing that was needed, however, was a MUCH stronger nursing presence, both for membership and for presentation of studies. I think there are a lot of us eager to join in and work in this direction. You don't have to be LGBT, just interested in working towards healthcare for the LGBT community. If interested, contact me--I will respond here or elsewhere. The LGBT presence needs to be strong in nursing and in healthcare in general!

don't hold your breath on hospitals reporting on the performance of nurses or any other employees. the legal liability of reporting a reference on an employee is enormous. few employers are in a position to so carefully vet references that personal opinion is excluded and 100% of the reference is objective. the minute you stray into subjective reporting, you run legal risks. apropos of the cullen case, i am not certain that reporting of "references" would have made a difference in this case. the nursing shortage is so acute, and reasons for dismissal so varied and often prejudiced, that mr. cullen probably would not have had a great deal of difficulty finding another position in a hospital, even had they known about the 5 dismissals--and there were 5 where he left in apparently good standing.