Introduction
The paper portrays the capitalization of the Pride Medical Center at Capitol Hill by Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic States (KPMAS) through observation of a foundered care provision for transgender and non-binary citizens. The main goal of this project was to increase the availability of gender-identity matching services delivered to a community healthcare system that meets the needs of LGBTQ+ individuals (Mary et al. et al., 2023). Nurses are central to uplifting patient beliefs and aspirations, especially when choices are made for the welfare of marginalized segments. They act as medical watchdogs, involving patients’ decision-making and rights implementation. Nevertheless, a health system that can effectively manage the complexity of serving and understanding LGBTQ+ persons is a significant achievement, especially in countries where mainstream healthcare does not fully support the community.
The Nurse’s Role in Affirming Patient Wishes
While nurses often play the role of an ethical participant in healthcare decisions, they sometimes are the moral spectators of the ethical choices made by other healthcare professionals and their influence on patients. Nurses who speak for the patients with the best needs shall be responsible for acknowledging and respecting what the patients want. Under these circumstances, their role is intensified, especially where marginalized people, such as the LGBTQ+ population, meet obstructions, including stigma, to getting care services appropriate to their needs (Mary Cabell Jonas et al., 2023). Nurses are an element between patients and the whole healthcare system; representatives fight for patients’ rights and dignity, preferences, and permissions regarding patient care and treatment.
For LGBTQ+ people, the visit to a healthcare institution can be immediately more or less complicated because of the widespread stigma and the absence of accessible information on their health issues. Nurses are indispensable in treating patients who may face challenging circumstances associated with this liberating exercise like empathy-oriented and culturally-responsive care that creates such safe spaces in which the patients should be able to freely express themselves without any bias or fear of any discrimination (Medina-Martínez et al., 2021). Through education, supplies, and emotional support, nurses aid LGBTQ+ patients across the healthcare system to get out of it confidently. They can ensure their voices are heard, and their treatment wishes are respected.
Risks Involved in Upholding Patient Wishes
Recognizing patients’ wishes, nurses may face complications like conflict within the team, among the practitioners, institutes, or companies for insurance. Opposition might be inevitable for nurses even if they strongly propose respecting patient rights because some colleagues or healthcare systems stick to old regulations and discriminatory practices. The challenges of nurses becoming acclaimed patient advocates in the areas with the under-supported and the least known LGBTQ+ health care are tough (Mary Cabell Jonas et al., 2023). Nurses might face discriminatory attitudes, shortage of knowledge, and institutional biases that can hamper their efforts for the fulfillment of the right of LGBTQ+ patients to get the medical services that match their preferred choices and healthcare needs. The trouble is that the insurance companies that may not be willing to cover some gender-reassignment drugs or services are also a significant barrier in following patients’ requests.
Social and Economic Consequences of Reversing Decisions
When options are limited, this can be a consequence of negative LGBTQ+ patients’ rights to specialized care and make social and economic inequality worse. Discrimination, or the lack of support for the medical needs of the LGBTQ+ community, will reduce the access to essential healthcare services by this group of people, who will consequently suffer from more severe diseases, and this will impact the cost of the treatment (Medina-Martínez et al., 2021). Not only does denying patients culturally acceptable care make them less well, but it also perpetuates discrimination by embedding institutional sentiment discrimination. Denying any disease conceals deep roots of further public health challenges by practical impediments to tackling health disparities and consequential social wounding, prolonging the path to health equity and social justice attainment.
Guidance from the Code of Ethics for Nurses
This Code of Ethics for Nurses specifies the core values and obligations a nurse has to make the world of healthcare fair and equitable for everyone. Mainly, it focused on disrespect of humanness, promotion for the most vulnerable citizens, and devotion to social justice. Where patients’ decisions are counter to institutional rules and recognition and society’s view of what is owed to them, nursing ethics serves as guidelines for making decisions (Kwame & Petrucka, 2021). The nurses are taught how to adhere to the self-rule and well-being of patients, solve conflicts diplomatically, work to reach an agreement, and deliver services ethically and equitably. Ethical codes of nurses are a good reminder that nurses keep their ethical standards and promote their patients’ causes in a working environment that is often very complicated.
Lessons Learned and Recommendations for Future Situations
The application of specifically designed healthcare models like Pride Medical at Capitol Hill is one of the examples of the significance of specialized care models in addressing the disparities within the healthcare systems to provide better patient experiences for the LGBTQ+ population. Lessons learned are centered on visibility, tailored services, and patient-centered approaches to properly care for this extraordinary populace (Kwame & Petrucka, 2021). A healthcare system and policymakers should be working towards creating a supportive atmosphere, improving provider training on the health of the LGBTQ+ community, and expanding insurance programs so that everybody has access to caring treatment that is appropriate to the needs and personhood of the LGBTQ+ community members.
Moral Residue and Conclusion
The moral residue experienced by nurses in confronting ethical dilemmas or witnessing adverse patient outcomes underscores the weight of their responsibilities. Nurses constitute an essential group of professionals safeguarding patient autonomy, ensuring equal access to healthcare services, and providing inclusiveness for healthcare systems. Being persuasive with their commitment to ethical service and patient patronage, nurses lead social justice movements to ensure that everybody is treated right and cared for respectfully.
References
Kwame, A., & Petrucka, P. M. (2021). A literature-based Study of patient-centered Care and Communication in nurse-patient interactions: Barriers, facilitators, and the Way Forward. BMC Nursing, 20(158), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-021-00684-2
Mary Cabell Jonas, Egan, K., Sheu, Y., McCarthy, R. J., & Horberg, M. A. (2023). Pride Medical at Capitol Hill: A New Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning plus (LGBTQ+) Patient Care Option at Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic States. Healthcare, 11(21), 2816–2816. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11212816
Medina-Martínez, J., Saus-Ortega, C., Sánchez-Lorente, M. M., Sosa-Palanca, E. M., García-Martínez, P., & Mármol-López, M. I. (2021). Health inequities in LGBT people and nursing interventions to reduce them: A systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(22), 11801. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182211801
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