In a periodical review on homosexuality in health care, 61 percent of the 59 articles reviewed on the subject showed negative attitudes toward gays and lesbians. More importantly, the study showed a shift from neutral to negative attitudes had occurred and warned of the implications for patient care (Schwanberg, 1990/cited in Dienemann, 1997). This shows that more often than not, health care providers have disapproving viewpoints and this could critically affect the homosexual population. Patients may not want to be cared for by homosexual nurses and colleagues may not want to work with them because they are homosexual. If a nurse feels uncomfortable about working with a homosexual nurse, this many cause non-verbal communication such as avoiding eye contact, maintaining physical distance and avoiding touch (Eliason, 1993). Knowing that this discrimination exists, many homosexual nurses may become reluctant to share their sexual identity with others. They would rather just not make it an issue and avoid obvious discrimination. Knowing about these forms of discrimination is important to the field of nursing. When you’re going into a field like nursing you need to know what issues you’re going to have to face. There is no area within nursing, where a nurse will not encounter a lesbian or gay patient, client or colleague (Eliason, 1993). On the other hand, patients who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender are also discriminated against. Therefore, there is the issue of ignorance in the medical setting in that a lack of communication can occur between the nurse and the patient. As nurses, we are taught that communication is key to providing the best possible health care. However, if there is a lack of communication, nurses cannot fulfill this important task. For example, if a nurse is dealing with a patient who happens to be lesbian, gay, or bisexual, then the nurse should respond with respect for the person. If the nurse is uncomfortable and acts in an unprofessional manner, then this could potentially make the patient feel uncomfortable and possibly offended and therefore breaks the trust relationship that should have formed (Schuster, 2000). Read more on this at http://www.narth.com/docs/nursing.html.
When speaking of sexual orientation discrimination, we must not forget to mention there may be prejudice within the nursing community. The colleague-colleague relationship is just as important as the patient-provider relationship. It is important for nurses to respect each other in a community, especially since there are so many social issues involved with this field of work. It is not necessary to change all of one's personal beliefs based on how another person carries him/herself but it is necessary to respect everyone in a way that is appropriate professionally (Andrews & Boyle, 2003).
This photo of a magazine cover is acknowledging the LGBT nursing population and is a good way to begin awareness in this matter.
There are a few nursing organizations that have a goal to ensure equality for Lesbian and gay nurses. The Gay Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA) achieves its goals by using medical expertise in professional education, public policy work, patient education and referrals, and the promotion of research (Ginsberg, 1982). GLMA provides membership for people who want to help make a difference in the nursing profession for those who are homosexual. Another important nursing organization is the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) 
which is more geared toward the support of gay and lesbian students in medicine.
Another important issue involved with homosexuality in nursing is the growing epidemic of HIV/AIDS. Many have identified HIV/AIDS as a “gay disease” because of the widely infected gay community (Eliason, 1996). There has been evidence of nurses being in fear of contracting the disease from patients who have AIDS. Nurses caring for a patient who is homosexual and happens to have AIDS, may find it difficult to provide for that patient because of their homosexual lifestyle (Eliason, 1996). Nurses who discriminate for this purpose alone are disrupting the autonomy of the patient. The patient has the freedom to their own sexual identity and to getting the proper health care that they need. By informing future nursing students about the importance of every patient, the autonomy of patients will be greatly improved.
Despite all these negativities, there are many individuals in the nursing population who actively support LGBT rights. As future nurses, it our responsibility to educate ourselves about LGBT rights in order to embrace all forms of living. This is especially important in our field of work because we are assigned to work with colleagues and patients and must be conscientious of their different backgrounds. As formerly stated, it is vital that we, as upcoming nurses, do all we can to reduce the discrimination of others by not only educating ourselves, but also actively educating others.
Additional Links
American Medical Students Association
Gay & Lesbian Medical Association
National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality
National Association of School Nurses
Dienemann, J. A. (Ed.). 1997. Cultural Diversity in Nursing: Issues, Strategies, and Outcomes.
Eliason, M. J. (1993). Cultural Diversity in Nursing Care: The Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual Client. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 10(1177), 2-8. Retrieved December 1,2007, from http://tcn.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/5/1/14.
Eliason, M. J. (1996). Institutional Barriers to Health Care for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Persons.
Ginsberg, J. (1982). Gay Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA). Retrieved November 30,2007, from http://www.glma.org/.
Knittle, A. (2007). American Medical Student Association. Retrieved November 30,2007, from http://www.amsa.org/lgbt/.
Schuster, P. M. (2000). Communication: The Key to the Therapeutic Relationship.
