Attitudes among nurse educators toward homosexuality

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• LGBTQ+ Health
• Health Disparities

Background:

• Homosexual populations possess distinct cultural, psychosocial, and health needs often overlooked in nursing curricula.
• Existing nursing education inadequately addresses LGBTQ+ health issues and disparities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate nurse educators' attitudes toward homosexuality.
• To determine the relationship between demographic, educational, and occupational factors and these attitudes.
• To understand barriers to incorporating LGBTQ+ health into nursing education.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive study utilizing an online survey.
• Inclusion of 1,282 self-selected nurse educators.
• Administration of the Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men Scale (ATLG) and a demographic questionnaire.

Main Results:

• The majority of nurse educators surveyed expressed positive attitudes toward homosexuality.
• Most educators recognized the importance of teaching LGBTQ+ content to nursing students.
• A significant number of educators reported feeling unprepared to teach this subject matter.

Conclusions:

• Positive attitudes toward homosexuality exist among nurse educators.
• A gap identified between perceived importance and preparedness to teach LGBTQ+ health in nursing education.
• Recommendations for improving nursing education and health care policy regarding LGBTQ+ populations are discussed.