Healthcare Professionals» Essay Paper

Anxiety of Transgender Going to Healthcare Professionals

Healthcare is a right for every citizen. It should be provided irrespective of the individual’s background or sexual identity. Moreover, individuals should not be scared or anxious when seeking medical care from professionals, especially because of their sexual identity or other aspects that may marginalize them. Many transgender individuals develop the condition from their childhood and feel that they are opposite to their natural gender. This results in gender identity problems, such as transsexualism. Transgender individuals also face unique challenges in healthcare, especially due to the rarity of their condition. The conditions are worsened for the individuals by the lack of knowledge, research, and isolation resulting from the fact that the condition is rare. Although transgender individuals are increasingly becoming visible in America, their healthcare needs are still not sufficiently met. This is due to the healthcare failure to provide adequate environments for them to feel safe and disclose their status. In many healthcare environments, transgenderism remains under the radar and abstract. However, the lack of information about their health needs and insufficient recognition of transgender individuals in the population only worsens the problem. Healthcare Professionals» Essay Paper

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

Efforts have been made by the government and other civil society members to sensitize people about their rights and freedoms. These efforts are meant to enable them to demand their rights. Healthcare professionals, on the other hand, have been sensitized on the need to treat all people equally in relation to providing medical care. Transgender people are a minority group that suffers discrimination in many instances due to their sexual orientation. Transgender people experience anxiety in seeking medical care due to the negative perceptions of discrimination by medical professionals. Efforts to reduce the anxiety effect have not been effective in removing the anxiety experienced by transgender people in seeking professional medical care. The anxiety associated with their seeking medical attention has resulted in poor health outcomes for transgender people. This paper highlights the anxiety associated with transgender people who seek medical attention. It will discuss the possible sources of the anxiety, as well as how it is expressed in this vulnerable population.Healthcare Professionals» Essay Paper

The number of transgender individuals in the population is low, compared to other conditions or sexual identities. In the United States, there are less than 30,000 transgender individuals (Thomas, 2004). The patients are burdened by the rarity of their condition, thus they are afraid to see professional medical care because of the stigma associated with the condition. The rarity of the condition is also compounded by the issue of lack of moral support from other patients suffering from the same condition. These individuals are not sure of how they will be treated at the hospital and whether they will get the required care.

The level of public awareness of the condition, as well as low level of research and clinical trials in relation to being transgender results in low level of knowledge about the condition to both the patient and the healthcare professionals. Rarity of the condition also increases the health risks associated with seeking medical attention for the condition. This is because the patients’ needs, as well as other conditions that might affect them, are not well known to the doctors or nurses. Therefore, the care received is uninformed and insensitive. Such unpleasant experiences have a negative effect on transgender individuals, who might not want to seek medical attention later. Having such unpleasant experiences reduce the expectations of individuals in relation to seeking medical attention in future. They feel that they are going to get a similar level of poor medical attention, and thus transgender people become anxious and they lack the willingness to seek medical attention for their conditions, or other health complications in relation to their condition (Berreth, 2003).Healthcare Professionals» Essay Paper

The rarity of transsexualism often results in high level of curiosity among the medical professionals. Nurses have the position and potential to improve the provision of health services for patients through professional and empathetic care. Hospitalization for transgender patients may be for sex reassignment surgery or other medical conditions, for instance, accidents. A professional knowledge level is necessary in order to ensure adequate healthcare that responds to the needs of the patient (Kirksey, Williams, & Garza, 1995). Lack of empathy from the medical professionals is a significant cause of anxiety in patients. Not all hospitals are up-to-date with the issue of gender identity disorders. Therefore, the staff may be overwhelmed and overly interested in understanding the patient and his/her condition, and the patient ends up being stressed.Healthcare Professionals» Essay Paper

Beemer (1996) asserts that interactions between nurses and transgendered patients show an unusually high level of curiosity. This anxiety may cause the nurses to overstep the boundaries in questioning, thus causing them to ask extremely personal questions. These personal questions are in most cases irrelevant to the medical care to be provided to the patient. This has a negative effect on relations between the healthcare providers and the patient. It also strains the emotional strength of the patient at a time when the patient has limited emotional resources. This has a highly negative effect on the patients’ self-esteem because of the personal exposure caused by the nurses in collecting personal information. The patients may feel that the health professionals are using them as educational sources, which discourages them from seeking medical attention. They  try to avoid being used as educational resources, since it has a negative effect on their self-esteem. Healthcare professionals also fail to acknowledge the preferences of their transgender patients. Therefore, they may provide medical care that does not meet their expectations or specific needs. Caregivers in many cases use medical and legal records to assess their patients, thus disregarding their personal preferences and situations (Thomas, 2004).Healthcare Professionals» Essay Paper

The hospitals’ inability to provide competent healthcare for the services or procedures required by the patient increases the level of anxiety in the transgender patients. Their lack of preparedness causes the patients fear returning to the same healthcare center for medical attention in the future. Most healthcare professionals do not strive to understand the experiences of transgender individuals. This reduces their level of understanding about the conditions, thus reducing their effectiveness as advocates for the transgender patients’ needs. This results in nurses being unable to represent the problems of the transgender patients or advocate for improved services for them in the hospitals (Krammer, 2003).Healthcare Professionals» Essay Paper

Transgender patients are at greater risk of developing depression or other mental disorders, and they have a higher likelihood of drug abuse. Therefore, they have specialized needs that require higher levels of attention from the medical professionals. Transgender patients are frequently estranged from their families and other relatives, thus increasing mental stress and other disorders for the patients. Older transgender individuals may be at higher risk of such disorders than the younger patients (Berreth, 2003). Some of the procedures and practices that transgender individuals are involved in predispose them to higher health risks than other individuals. Procedures such as hormone therapy, cosmetic surgery, or injection of silicone may be used in order to achieve the desired physical appearance for the desired sex. These procedures increase the risks for such diseases as prostate cancer or HIV due to the use of shared needles.

When conducting some of the procedures such as silicone injection or use of hormone treatment, transgender individuals are less likely to seek medical advice. Although this increases the risk of developing complications, it also reduces the chances of seeking medical attention due to the complications. Personal administration of these procedures increases the level of anxiety associated with seeking medical attention. Individuals may be scared of the perception that the doctors will have about them, as well as of the negative judgment they might get due to exposing themselves to dangers through the procedures (Thomas, 2004).

Transgender conditions predispose individuals to profound emotional issues that require empathy and attention from medical professionals. However, rigorous diagnostic criteria are followed in screening patients for hormone therapy or surgical treatment. Doctors and other medical professionals may follow these procedures, strictly overshadowing the sociological and emotional effects of the condition on the patients (Kirksey, Williams, & Garza, 1995). The doctors, thus, follow these procedures while ignoring the empathetic needs of the transgender individuals. Some medical professionals also consider the transgender status of individuals at the expense of their medical needs.

Assumptions and perceptions of the society concerning transsexualism also influence the level of anxiety in transgender individuals, in relation to seeking medical attention. Existing standards of nursing, medical care, and psychological health are built on the psychological paradigm that gender identity disorder is an incurable mental illness. Surgery, in this case, is taken to be a lifesaving intervention for the disorder. These assumptions about the etiology of transsexualism cause approaches used in treating transsexualism to fail in handling the problem appropriately. Social perceptions and researches on the disorders are also influenced by the paradigm and approaches used, which have an effect on the outcomes of transgender patients. The international standards adopted for clinical guidelines in providing medical care for transgender patients provide aspects of treatment that are generalized for all patients. However, these aspects may not be wanted by all patients (Thomas, 2004).Healthcare Professionals» Essay Paper

Perceptions emanating from the media’s depiction of transgender people lower their self-esteem because they are portrayed as illicit sex workers, freakish, and deviant people. Social perceptions about transgender individuals show that they are depicted as being undesirable and capable of entering relationships with anybody in order to avoid loneliness. The healthcare providers, who judge the transgender patients before even admitting or examining them or their medical conditions, also hold these perceptions.

This result in patients getting treatment that is not appropriate for their needs, which increases anxiety of the patients seeking medical attention, because their needs are not considered in the treatment offered. The suggestions made by the doctors may not fit into the preferences of the transgender patient. This is because the comfort level resulting from different interventions differs from one patient to another. Some patients are comfortable with the felt gender roles that enable them to blend into the community through hormone treatment while others feel that genital surgery is necessary in order to enable them to cope with the situation (Krammer, 2003).

The procedure required for recommendation for gender reassignment therapy is long and arduous. Patients are required to meet strict eligibility requirements before any consideration for the therapy. A brief real life experience should be documented in the felt gender in order to get clearance for a hormone prescription. Readiness to proceed in the therapy requires recommendation from a mental health specialist.Healthcare Professionals» Essay Paper

Recommendation for surgery requires the documentation of a longer real time experience. Two independent health specialists who must concur in their recommendations review these documentations (Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association (HBIGDA), 2001).

Nurses and doctors may also have inadequate knowledge about hormone treatment and its effect on lab reports. This causes inaccurate treatment procedures and prescriptions that may result in poor health outcomes for the transgendered patients. Such poor health outcomes increase the anxiety of transgender patients in seeking medical services in the future (Beemer, 1996). Untimely or inadequate healthcare interventions can also result in personal discomfort of the nurses being around transgendered patients. Personal discomfort from the part of the nurses causes the provision of inadequate therapeutic outcomes for patients. Personals discomfort in the interaction between patients and nurses causes the patients to develop anxiety. The discomfort is created by the nurses’ inability to deal with their own fears or perceptions about transgender patients. The lack of knowledge on issues regarding transgender healthcare results in inappropriate healthcare practices and preconceptions that increase anxiety for them in trying to access healthcare. An example of such inappropriate care is a female to male transgender patient who was given a rectal examination despite telling the examiner that he did not have prostate (Alegria, 2011).

Few people can understand the frustration, anger, and isolation experienced by transgender individuals. They have a difficult time watching other people being in relationships and enjoying the support of their families. This results in many years of anger and loneliness that comes from misunderstanding by peers and family members. These feelings result in fear, as the transsexual individuals expect the same treatment from other people outside the relationship circles, such as doctors or nurses. Anger may be directed inwards or outwards, resulting in depression, isolation, and suicidal tendencies (Anderson, 1998). Family members, who may insist that the victims bring about the problem on themselves, compound the anxiety associated with transgender patients seeking medical attention. This also results in lack of normal support mechanisms that come from moral support provided by the family members.Healthcare Professionals» Essay Paper