Ask an NP – Caring for LGBTQIA+ Patients

00:00 So when providing care to LGBTQIA+ patients, the biggest thing is to know where you are with that.

00:08 And as someone who is not a member in that community, I have had to acknowledge a lot of ignorance around the fact of I do not know a lot about the inner workings of this because I have not lived it.

00:22 And the most helpful thing I found is just to approach it with a spirit of curiosity, and allowing people to fill in the blanks for you and leaving them the space to do that.

00:32 So introducing topics of, you know, like, Hey, in my introduction, I would just be like, "Hey, I'm Liz," I use she/her pronouns.

00:39 "Let me know like anything about you that you want me to know that leaves the space open so that they can then if they want to fill in that blank they can.

00:47 And when you then breach topics that are more sensitive that have to do with anything like that, just saying, "Is there anything else you want me to know about you? Anything that could impact your healthcare? And honestly just asking questions like literally just even if you're like, I'd preface it by being like this might sound like dumb, but and just ask and people are often very happy to talk about anything in that realm with you as long as you don't appear like you're approaching it with judgment.

01:15 You're approaching it with like genuine curiosity, and you want to learn.