Nursing students will participate in a new patient simulation this fall at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis to learn how to better care for transgender patients, reports the Minnesota Daily.
The simulation, funded by a $1,000 grant from the University's Institute for Diversity, Equity, and Advocacy, will highlight how to provide tailored care for transgender or nonbinary patients. The simulation will entail transgender or nonbinary instructors acting as patients that students must care for. Instructors will give students immediate feedback during the simulation. Students will also learn how to respectfully address patients and refer to their body parts.
The simulation aims to prevent the mistreatment transgender patients often face in medical settings, which is typically due to a lack of provider education, according to Melissa Avery, PhD, and Maria Ruud, DNP, both professors at the University of Minnesota's nursing school who helped create the simulation.
"It's putting trans people in a place of power where we can determine how we're being cared for in a medical setting and our providers are properly educated," Mikki Coleman, one of the simulation instructors and a medical assistant at Family Tree Clinic St. Paul, Minn., told Minnesota Daily.