DNP Scholarly Projects

Abstract

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals experience a multitude of health disparities and barriers to access care, including lack of knowledgeable health care providers and experiences of discrimination and victimization in health care settings. As future health care professionals, health professions students need preparation to deliver culturally competent, equitable care to members of the LGBT community. Because the attitudes of health care professionals are important determinants in achieving patient-centered care, the purpose of the study was to explore attitudes toward the LGBT population and influencing factors of attitudes among nursing, mental health counseling, physical therapy (PT), occupational therapy (OT), and pharmacy students. A cross-sectional, online survey measured a purposive sample (N=687) of pre-licensure students’ attitudes using the modified Attitudes Toward Lesbian and Gay Men (ATLG) scale. Findings suggested students’ attitudes were predominantly favorable toward the LGBT population as a whole. Department (p=.162) and year of study (p=.103) were not statistically significant; however, political view (p<.001), religiosity (p<.001), and attitudes between heterosexual/straight and non-heterosexual/non-straight students (p<.001) were significant. Democrat and independent/other students held more positive attitudes in comparison to Republican students. The more important religion was to students, the more negative their attitudes and vice versa. Non-heterosexual/non-straight students’ attitudes were significantly more positive than heterosexual/straight students’ attitudes. Overall, findings suggest an opportunity exists to include more LGBT-specific content in departments’ curricula as well as learning experiences to foster greater awareness of students’ attitudes. Future research assessing faculty attitudes and readiness to address LGBT health is recommended.

Date

Spring 4-6-2020

First Advisor

Dr. Linda Wofford

Scholarly Project Team Member

Dr. David Phillippi

Scholarly Project Team Member

Dr. Ashley Scism

Department

Nursing, School of

College

Health Sciences & Nursing, Gordon E. Inman College of

Document Type

Scholarly Project

Degree

Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Degree Level

Doctoral

Degree Grantor

Belmont University

Keywords

health professions, students, attitudes, attitudes toward LGBT, bisexuality, transgender

Download

Share

COinS