Health Needs of LGBTQ Community Are Focus of New Interprofessional CE Courses

Two-part series examines terminology, offers tools to provide sensitive and informed care

BROOKFIELD, Wis., Jan. 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Healthcare professionals can gain a greater understanding of the health needs and challenges of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer community in OnCourse Learning's new series of interprofessional continuing education courses.

The modules are accredited for nurses, pharmacists, occupational therapists and social workers, and soon will be accredited for speech language pathologists.

Educating healthcare providers on the unique needs of the LGBTQ community was the driving force behind developing the new courses, according to Robert Hess, PhD, RN, FAAN, executive vice president, education programs and credentialing, healthcare, for OnCourse Learning.

"Thirty-five years ago, I was cross-covering a urology floor for a supervisor on maternity leave," Hess said. "We had some of the first patients who were undergoing gender reassignment surgery. When I was making rounds, I was told the patient was male when she was now female. People waited outside of the door to see how I reacted. Some nurses thought this was funny."

"We've come a long way in caring for patients with different sexual orientations, but we have miles to go," Hess said. "My visceral reaction to incidents like the one early in my career fueled a desire to create poignant educational activities that will catapult the knowledge of providers toward appropriate care."

Part 1 of the series, "Perspectives in Healthcare," presents an overview of the LGBTQ community and its contentious history with healthcare systems. Definitions of key concepts related to sexuality and gender variables will be discussed in this 1.5-hour course, along with general implications for clinical education, practice and research.

Part 2 of the series, "Healthcare Disparities," is a 2.0-hour course that presents more complex and intricately linked social determinants of health that are unique to this population, and offers concrete tools to help provide sensitive, informed care.

For information or to purchase the accredited CE courses, nurses can visit the Nurse.com website, while allied health professionals can go to ContinuingEducation.com.

Nurse.com and ContinuingEducation.com are trusted sources of CE content for millions of professionals every year, providing original and unbiased courses on thousands of healthcare-related topics for 20 healthcare professions. Their parent company OnCourse Learning is the largest provider of interprofessional CE content with Joint Accreditation status, which serves the three largest professions in healthcare: nursing, medicine and pharmacy. To learn more, visit Nurse.com and ContinuingEducation.com.