2SLGBTQIA+ Nurses: A Historical Narrative Literature Review
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Date
2023-11-13
Authors
Brandt, Adam
Scruby, Lynn
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Abstract
Background: Nurses are the largest group of health care providers in Canada, and researchers hypothesize that a large subcategory of nurses is nurses who identify as 2SLGBTQIA+. Literature shows that patients want and feel safer when their health care providers share similar identities with them. The roots of the nursing profession are steeped in social justice and advocacy, so why has the nursing profession remained silent on the experiences of this large group of nurses? What are the experiences of 2SLGBTQIA+ nurses throughout history?
Methods: A historical qualitative narrative review method was utilized to summarize and synthesize the body of literature available on nurses identifying as 2SLGBTQIA+.
Results: Early literature between 1980-1999 describes the pressures many nurses faced to keep their identities hidden, and despite many of the founders of modern nursing hypothesized as being queer, the profession has knowingly hidden their identities. From 2000-2009, the literature continued to discuss the invisibility of queer nurses while starting to explore the discrimination these nurses faced and the nuances of disclosing their identities in the workplace. 2010-2019, the literature evolved to suggest breaking the historical silence on 2SLGBTQIA+ issues and creating policy change to protect equity-deserving nurses. From 2020 to the present, the literature has begun to utilize Minority Stress Theory to describe the effects discrimination has on 2SLGBTQIA+ nurses, along with their improving experiences and affirmation in the profession.
Conclusion: Promoting increased diversity within the nursing profession and policy changes protecting 2SLGBTQIA+ nurses is paramount and may improve equity-deserving patients' health outcomes.
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Keywords
LGBT, Nurses, Homophobia, Transphobia