Honors Theses and Capstones

Date of Award

Spring 2022

Project Type

Senior Honors Thesis

College or School

CHHS

Department

Nursing

Program or Major

Nursing

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

First Advisor

Kristen Clark

Second Advisor

Kerry Nolte

Abstract

Introduction: Many healthcare professionals may have inadequate knowledge or training to care for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) patients. Educational curriculum based on LGBTQ+ populations has been found to be inadequate in higher education. Little is known about how university educators' knowledge of LGBTQ+ topics or how that knowledge relates to their confidence in teaching this material. This study aims to explore how the healthcare educators' knowledge of LGBTQ+ topics impacts their confidence teaching this material.

Methods: Data was collected via an online survey sent to University of New Hampshire faculty. Respondents were asked to answer 12 knowledge and 19 confidence questions related to LGBTQ+ healthcare needs. Descriptive statistics were analyzed and t-tests were conducted to assess the relationship between variables.

Results: A total of 14 participants were included in our analysis. No statistically significant result was found regarding the association between LGBTQ+ knowledge levels and the confidence in teaching these healthcare needs. However, it was found that educators have greater knowledge on LGB population healthcare needs compared to transgender population healthcare needs (t(11)=4.33, p<0.01).

Discussion: These findings support previous literature findings that university educators’ knowledge levels vary between different sexual and gender minority groups. However, these findings do not support previous literature that states higher levels of LGBTQ+ healthcare knowledge leads to more confidence with this material. Limitations for this study include a small sample size and self-rated confidence questions. This project exposed a gap in knowledge among university educators that may impact student learning experiences and should be rectified with increasing educator training regarding LGBTQ+ healthcare needs.

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