Nurses speak up for gay teenagers
The Royal College of Nursing’s annual Congress has overwhelmingly passed a motion in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans young people.
More than 95% of delegates yesterday supported the call for the RCN Council to “develop and promote best practice to combat the barriers to health and homophobic bullying faced by LGBT youth in the UK.”
At Congress RCN members comment upon and influence Council policy, to help inform the RCN’s work for the coming year.
Held every spring, it attracts upwards of 4,000 delegates.
The RCN, founded in 1916, has close to 400,000 members across the UK. It represents nurses and nursing, promotes excellence in practice and shapes health policies.
Last year the RCN backed calls for ‘explicit and proactive’ training in the NHS to combat LGB prejudice.
The RCN College’s LGBT group, RCN OUT!, was founded in 2002.
It has been involved in a range of work which has helped to improve the working lives of members and the delivery of care for patients and clients who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans.
A survey into perceived discrimination published by gay equality organisation Stonewall last month found that one in fourteen lesbian and gay people expect to be treated worse than heterosexuals when seeking healthcare.
Gay women, who have received fewer targeted health messages than gay men, are almost twice as likely to expect discrimination because of their sexual orientation.
