Changing Definitions That Restrict Who Can Visit Veterans

Transgender people in today’s society have it hard enough; going to prison is even harder due to the risks associated to someone who is transgendered. People who are transgendered risk their health and well-being while being locked up in prison. They face a variety of issues while they are incarcerated such as housing, physical, emotional abuse and most of all denial to their basic medical needs that helps express who they are through their gender.

Prisoners that are incarcerated go through many hardships during the course of their sentence. The mistreatment that inmates in prison encounter is unjustifiable in many cases. Amongst the inmates mistreated, transgender prisoners are challenged in many ways with abuse, misconduct, and discrimination. Transgender individuals are people who do not identify themselves with the gender that was assigned at birth. The high-risk profile of being a transgender inmate in prison strikes for deep concern and something needs to be done.

Imagine being a woman in a men’s prison. For many prisoners, this is the case because most state court correctional decide to sentence transsexual women in transition inmates based on sex assignment, not their identity. Within most dominant U.S. cultures transsexual women in transition are defined as those whose sense of gender is so absolutely opposed to their sex assignment at birth that they individuals desire to live exclusively as the opposite sex, undergo hormone treatments to align with the opposite sex, and sometimes undergo surgery to match their sexual organs with their gender identity (Stirnitzke 291). Often people are

Scholars have been critical of the medical establishment’s and state’s involvement in constructing and policing of transgender identity. These kinds of pressing issues have occupied the small existing literature. There is not much information and studying what is being done on transgender in traditional areas, family studies research, such as their dating behavior and formation of intimate relationships in adulthood. There is little research on the issues around being parents, their children’s experiences with having transgendered parents, as well as relationships in the family as a whole, and relationships in work and school.

Perhaps the most significant contributing cause of the poor quality of healthcare afforded to transgender patients is the fact that the majority of healthcare providers do not know how to treat trans patients. According to a study done by the Royal College of Nursing, it was discovered that “78% [of surveyed nursing staff] had not had training on how to care for transgender people, and only 13% of those surveyed said they had felt prepared to meet the needs of trans patients they had cared for” (Duffy, 2016). Additionally, around four out of five staff had “no training

Every day, there are American citizens who risk their lives for the sake of their country's safety. Men and women who believe that justice, peace, and equality should be served. However, within their beliefs, some choose to exclude transgender individuals who have the same rights and freedoms. The American society considers the world to be progressively changing and growing, however, seem to forget that in order for the military to survive the 21st century, diversity is crucial. Although the medical costs may raise the overall healthcare median per year, transgender individuals should have the right to serve in the U.S. armed forces because any human being who meets the physical qualifications and has a willing attitude should have the right to serve.

The transgender population often have complicated medical needs and encounter numerous health disparities including discrimination, lack of access to quality health care and social stigma. Some health disparities include various chronic diseases, cancers, as well as mental health issues (Vanderbilt University, 2017). Transgender individuals are at increased risk of HIV infection with their rates being reported “over four times the national average of HIV infection, with higher rates among transgender people of color (Grant, Mottet, Tanis, 2011).” In addition, they usually do not have health insurance (Makadon, 2017) and have a lower probability of preventative cancer screenings in transgender men (AMSA, 2017).

The Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 (H.R. 3230) have been put in place to provide funding as well as other services to veterans in any form of VA medical facilities. With this legislation, various programs have been established to provide funding and ensure care (Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014, 2014).

This decision has affected people’s behavior as individuals and public institutions such as family, young, elderly, disabled, LGTB and those with pre-existing conditions. For example, Kates & Ranji (2014) report that health care access and coverage for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGTB) community in the U.S. face opportunities and challenges when getting access to care. The authors report that LGBT individuals experience some discrimination because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, due to ongoing discrimination, access to health care have been limited to these people (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2014). LGBT individuals not only face discrimination when trying to receive care, but also face difficulties that limit them such as “barriers in obtaining insurance coverage, gaps in coverage, cost-related hurdles, and poor treatment by health care providers” (Kates & Ranji, 2014).

Since there is no reported data or analyses to help the nation or specific regions and communities assess veterans’ needs for services by geographic area, and to plan for and coordinate service delivery across community-based, TRICARE, and VHA resources; we purpose several general directions for moving forward (Burnam et. al, 2009). The general directions for moving forward include a need for confidentiality, consumer education, treatment choices, workforce policy, training and certification, QI needs, and technical assistance to the

Evidence-informed practice is a critical part of nursing care. To be able to have evidence-informed practice, nurses need to be able to conduct research to find the most up-to-date and relevant information related to patient- and family centered care. When caring for patients, it is paramount to recognize the importance of family and the role they play in care. When one comes out as transgender, it is something that is not only going to affect the said person, but also their friends and family. Family members are key support systems so when you are caring for one person, you are in turn caring for the family as well. This is known as patient- and family-centered care. As there has been an increase in literature pertaining to family-centered care, the question of interest is “What is the impact on a spouse when a partner is transgendered?” To find the answer to this clinical question, the database Medline was utilized. The keywords LGBTQ, transgender, family-centered, spouse, nurse, sexuality and health care were used and combined with Boolean operators. Through this research, knowledge can be gained on how to properly care for the spouse of a transgendered person. This paper will discuss the key impacts of having a transgender spouse, nursing approaches that we can integrate into our care, and resources available for the non-transgender spouse.

There is not a plethora of research on the transgender inmate population. Brown and McDuffie (2009) report 750 transgender prisoners were in custody in 2007. The only reason this population is last on the list of importance is because of the limited population. Transgender inmate population pose one of the most challenging legal questions to the DOC. How far does the DOC have to go in providing medical, psychiatric, or surgical needs to those inmates who enter the correctional facility as transgender (Brown & McDuffie, 2009). There has been some successful litigation that has addressed these issues with inmates who have been diagnosed with gender identity disorders (GID). Brown and McDuffie (2009), suggest California has some of the most “comprehensive directive” that allows inmates to continue or initiate “cross-sex hormones for appropriately diagnosed inmates” (p.288). Ultimately, the transgender population pose a real threat to the correctional environment, such as, safety issues and predatory behavior by other inmates. One area of concern for transgender inmate population, because it is such a relatively new population, there are not a lot of facilities medically equipped to care for them properly (Brown & McDuffie, 2009), a lot like the elderly inmate population. This population is as equally at risk of being violated as any of the other special

Blight, Jake. 2006. “Transgender Inmates.” Trends and issues: crime and criminology 16 (8): 1-6. Accessed April 16, 2016. http://aic.gov.au/media_library/publications/tandi_pdf/tandi168.pdf

During the previous investigations was discovered and practically showed, that attitudes toward transgender people and other groups were measured with a series of 101-point feeling thermometers in which higher numbers indicated more favorable attitudes with 50 serving as “neutral.” The mean score for transgender people was 32.01. No strata of respondents had a mean score greater than 50. These findings of generally negative attitudes toward transgender people are consistent with studies among transgender people in which they report widespread stigma and discrimination. A recent review of the literature on nurses’ attitudes toward LGBT patients showed evidence of negative attitudes in all 17 articles. A study of 427 LGBT physicians found that 65% had heard derogatory comments about LGBT individuals and 34% had witnessed discriminatory care of an LGBT patient. Moreover, the growing process of the globalization follows the society to the tolerance, and the investigation evidenced it. The number of the patient was understood after the more detailed discussion of the problem with the doctors, which accepted their position and the necessities.

Many transgendered youth (33%) reported missing needed physical health care during the past year, and even more missed needed mental health care (68%). Transgendered youth face, higher rates of depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive and phobic disorders, suicidality, self-harm, PTSD and substance use. Mental health issues are a key concern, as 77% of transgendered youth in an Ontario-based survey had seriously considered suicide and 45% had attempted suicide. School staff need further training to improve their competency in providing high quality care for transgendered youth. This should include general education about gender identity and barriers that transgendered people face in accessing health care, and specific training for addressing transgendered youth health