Creating a Strategic Partnership for Educating Nurse Practitioner Students about Sexual Health

Sexual health is an essential and often neglected component of primary care. Nurse practitioners are ideal members of the healthcare team to be providing sexual health information, diagnoses, and treatments. Unfortunately, this is an area that has been lacking in the education of all healthcare providers. This paper describes a program that incorporates sexual health into the curriculum for nurse practitioner students through collaboration between the university school of nursing and the local health department. Given the increasing shortage of clinical sites and the need to train nurse practitioners to be competent in the delivery of sexual health, this is a model that could benefit other schools of nursing

Promoting Transgender Understanding and Acceptance at a Jesuit University

Transgender individuals have faced and continue to face misunderstanding and severe discrimination in society and in accessing the provision of healthcare. Two nursing faculty at a Jesuit university addressed this issue in a Jesuit community dialogue supported by a Jesuit grant. This dialogue was framed within Jesuit teachings and was consistent with the value of social justice, something fundamental to both the profession of nursing and Jesuit teachings. Three transgender individuals and a Jesuit priest each spoke of their personal experience and then opened the dialogue up for questions. Faculty and students overwhelmingly found the dialogue to be helpful and informative. This article can provide others, especially within the Jesuit tradition, with guidance for a similar dialogue

Promoting Transgender Understanding and Acceptance at a Jesuit University

Transgender individuals have faced and continue to face misunderstanding and severe discrimination in society and in accessing the provision of healthcare. Two nursing faculty at a Jesuit university addressed this issue in a Jesuit community dialogue supported by a Jesuit grant. This dialogue was framed within Jesuit teachings and was consistent with the value of social justice, something fundamental to both the profession of nursing and Jesuit teachings. Three transgender individuals and a Jesuit priest each spoke of their personal experience and then opened the dialogue up for questions. Faculty and students overwhelmingly found the dialogue to be helpful and informative. This article can provide others, especially within the Jesuit tradition, with guidance for a similar dialogue

Transmen: The HIV Risk of Gay Identity

Many female-to-male transgender individuals, or transmen, are situated within the gay community, one of the highest risk communities for HIV, yet there has been little research regarding the experience of risk for these transmen. Seventeen transmen were interviewed regarding their sexuality and HIV risk behavior. Fourteen of the 17 reported having non-trans gay men as sexual partners. Risk behaviors included not using condoms with multiple partners who were HIV-positive, or of unknown HIV status. Aspects of risk included the unfamiliarity of the gay community and the lack of safe sex negotiating skills. The dynamics of acceptance and rejection between transmen and non-trans gay men impacted risk by compromising safety. Incorrect assumptions regarding transmen, non-trans gay men, and risk included beliefs that neither person could be at risk. Other aspects included the impact of testosterone on sexual behavior, the changed bodies of transmen, and sex work

Creating a Strategic Partnership for Educating Nurse Practitioner Students about Sexual Health

Sexual health is an essential and often neglected component of primary care. Nurse practitioners are ideal members of the healthcare team to be providing sexual health information, diagnoses, and treatments. Unfortunately, this is an area that has been lacking in the education of all healthcare providers. This paper describes a program that incorporates sexual health into the curriculum for nurse practitioner students through collaboration between the university school of nursing and the local health department. Given the increasing shortage of clinical sites and the need to train nurse practitioners to be competent in the delivery of sexual health, this is a model that could benefit other schools of nursing

Sexual Identity, Behavior, and Risk Among Female-to-Male Transgender Persons

Female-to-Male transgenders (FTM), or transmen, have become an increasing presence in the gay community, especially in San Francisco. However, there is little data regarding how they transitioned into the gay community and the risks for HIV and STDs that they faced when they completed transition. This dissertation is comprised of four papers that examine that situation. The first paper describes the ways in which three decades of the HIV epidemic have impacted sexual behavior and attitudes within the gay community. That is followed by a review of what is known and unknown about the development of sexual differentiation and gender identity, with a specific focus on a variety of intersex conditions. The final two papers present the results of the study "Sexual Identity, Behavior, and Risk Among Female-to-Male Transgender Persons". This study used Interpretive Phenomenology to describe and understand the experience of 17 transmen who were recruited in the San Francisco area. Two lines of inquiry were identified for the study. The first was to describe and understand the variability in sexual orientation and behavior among transmen before and after transition and the use of testosterone. The four distinct groups of steadfast, shifted, aligned, and fluid are identified and described in the third paper. The final paper examines the second line of inquiry. This was to identify the risk present for transmen who transitioned into the gay community. Risks inherent in being part of the gay community as well as aspects of risk that are specific to transmen are discussed