LGBTQ+ Psychosocial Concerns in Nursing and Midwifery Education Programmes: Qualitative Findings from a Mixed-Methods Study.

LGBTQ+ people experience significant physical and psychosocial health issues and concerns, and encounter barriers when accessing healthcare services. We conducted a mixed-methods research study across all Schools of Nursing and Midwifery in the United Kingdom and Ireland using a survey and qualitative interviews. This was to identify the current content within nursing and midwifery pre-registration programmes in relation to LGBTQ+ health and to identity best practice and education innovation within these programmes. The survey was completed by 29 academics, with 12 selected to participate in a follow-up in-depth qualitative interview. Analysis of the data from the survey and interviews identified five themes: there is variable programme content; academics are developing their own programmes with no clear consistency; LGBTQ+ health is being linked to equality and diversity; there are barriers to education provision; and these is some evidence of best practice examples. The findings of the study support the need to develop and implement a curriculum for LGBTQ+ health in nursing and midwifery pre-registration programmes with learning aims and outcomes. Academics need support and tools to prepare and deliver LGBTQ+ health content to nurses and midwives as they ultimately have the potential to improve the experiences of LGBTQ+ people when accessing healthcare.

'Not Left in Limbo': Service User Experiences of Mental Health Nurse Prescribing in Home Care Settings.

Prescribing in mental health nursing in the Republic of Ireland is still an unusual occurrence and despite an uptake in prescriber training, this does not often translate to practice. Recent Irish research, however, has identified that nurse prescribing when offered, is perceived to enhance care and offer better delivery of services. Since the legislation was introduced in the Republic of Ireland to enable nurses and midwives to prescribe in May 2007, there are now 1,123 nurses registered to prescribe medication. Mental health nurses, however, do not tend to be a priority when it comes to training in prescribing; in the UK it took two years after nurse prescribing was rolled out to extend the scheme to mental health nursing. Although nurse and other professional perspectives explored this topic, there is limited research specifically detailing the experience of service users in long term care who are prescribed by mental health nurse practitioners in a home care setting. This research follows a qualitative exploratory research design using thematic analysis to explore service user (n = 12) experiences of mental health nurse prescribing. The following four themes emerged from the analysis: 'empowerment and trust'; 'person-centered care'; 'time and flexibility' and 'collaborative approach'. Results indicate a positive and rich experience of nurse prescribing, which facilitate a more trusting, holistic and autonomous therapeutic relationship. Future research looking at other issues relating to medication including reduction and support for coming off where appropriate is recommended.

An Exploration of the Relationship Between Spirituality, Religion and Mental Health Among Youth Who Identify as LGBT+: A Systematic Literature Review.

There is a growing interest in addressing spirituality in health care with evidence emerging that personal spiritual and religious practices, and support of these, can influence mental health in a positive way. However, there can be distinct challenges to spiritual expression and mental health issues for youth who identify as LGBT+. The goal of this paper was to undertake a systematic review of the available evidence to investigate the relationship between mental health, spirituality and religion as experienced by LGBT+ youth. A comprehensive literature search was conducted using medical and psychological databases that focused on spirituality, mental health and LGBT+ youth. The search yielded a total of ten articles published in English between May 2008 and June 2018. The key findings highlighted issues around discriminatory attitudes, shame related to disclosure, spirituality as a supportive resource, internalised conflict and external factors around sexual orientation concerns. The psychological, social and health implications are presented and discussed.