Catherine Cuffe - 3rd Year Adult Nursing student

My dissertation is based on a quality improvement project to improve the healthcare for patients who identify as transgender. Whilst I was on a clinical placement recently there was some confusion around gender, names and pronouns for an individual who was transgender. I found that the admission package only included an option for male and female under the gender section of the assessment and it made no allowance for others.

Upon researching this topic, the literature revealed that there was a significant lack of training and education on the healthcare needs for transgender individuals within the UK. I have created a leaflet that I would like to distribute to healthcare professionals especially nurses in various clinical settings in order to increase their knowledge and reduce stigma for these individuals.

I believe that this is an area of healthcare that is evolving and is of vital importance to educational and healthcare professionals. Through education and increased visibility we can promote professionalism and ensure the interests of all patients remain a priority.

You can contact Catherine on hbu890@bangor.ac.uk.