CPATH Nursing Pre-Conference Program

Objective: This pre-conference training session will provide nurses with information to enhance their ability to care for transgender, Two-Spirit and gender-diverse clients in primary care settings, including Community Health Centres, sexual health and STI clinics, youth clinics, school nursing, and home care nursing.

Context: Transgender, Two-Spirit and gender diverse (trans)  people have the right to respectful and dignified primary health care in their home communities. Nurses working in primary care settings are uniquely positioned to provide gender-affirming care to trans clients. Choosing to enhance your practice skills include the provision of gender-affirming care can have a profound impact on the health of trans people in your community.

Nurses that attend this session will learn about:

• gender diversity, transgender and Two-Spirit cultural competency;
• gender-affirming approach to providing care;
• how to support and address fears/concerns of parents & guardians of gender-creative children;
• how to support schools & families to create safer spaces for gender-creative children;
• barriers that people experience when trying to access gender- affirming care;
• how to support people experiencing mental health issues that stem from transphobia and past negative experiences in the health care system, including resources, advocacy and re- building therapeutic relationships;
• supporting people through social, medical and surgical aspects of transition;
• how to make safer referrals;
• how to provide safer and more inclusive physical assessments and sexual health screening;
• how to facilitate referrals to gender-affirming medical and surgical care;
• how to advocate for trans people and their families across the lifespan and in different clinical settings;
• how to provide basic post-operative care to clients after gender- affirming surgery;
• how to liaise with local trans health care services

Nursing Care Before, During and After Gender Affirming Surgery

Objective: This pre-conference training session will provide nurses with information to enhance their ability to care for transgender, Two-Spirit and gender diverse clients during the pre- and post-operative periods of gender affirming surgery.

Context: Gender-affirming surgeries change a person’s physical characteristics to better reflect their gender identity. Many transgender, Two-Spirit and gender diverse (trans) people are happy with their bodies, or find comfort with their bodies through non-surgical means, while other people require surgery to provide relief from gender dysphoria (distress experienced when a person’s gender identity does not match their sex assigned at birth), increase safety and comfort, and lessen or eliminate the need to take hormone therapies. As gender-affirming surgeries become more accessible, nurses are caring for more trans clients during the pre- and post-operative periods.

• gender diversity, transgender and Two-Spirit cultural competency;
• gender-affirming approach to providing care;
• updated information to help people in BC navigate access to • gender affirming surgeries (and considerations for clinicians  in other provinces);
• basic overviews and when applicable, pre-operative teaching, planning, and post-operative care for the following surgeries
• breast augmentation/construction
• orchiectomy
• vaginoplasty
• sub-cutaneous mastectomy & chest contouring
• hysterectomy & bilateral oophorectomy
• metoidioplasty
• phalloplasty;
• how to liaise with local trans health care services

Faculty:

Fin Gareau is a trans and Two-Spirit nurse originally from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, who fully embraces the importance of community reciprocity. He began his queer and trans activism in the early 2000’s facilitating the Safe Spaces youth group in the Kootenays, and delivering trans workshops to rural social service agencies. He then began volunteering with the Trans Youth Drop- in and coordinated the program for over 8 years. He has worked with gender diverse and questioning youth and their families for over 15 years. Fin is nearly completed his Master of Nursing, Family Nurse Practitioner degree and has a strong passion for working with gender diverse and Two-Spirit people. Recognizing the need to create more trans-specific and inclusive health care services, Fin was a founding organizer of the Catherine White Holman Wellness Centre. Providing trans visibility and ‘first contact’ with isolated trans youth is an experience that continues to resonate with and motivate Fin, today.

Lauren Goldman is a registered nurse whose practice has focused on increasing access to low-barrier, gender affirming care. She is particularly passionate about sexual health and teaching clinicians how to create health care experiences that are considerate of gender, orientation, kink practices, bodies and ability. Lauren has been privileged to work with the Catherine White Holman Wellness Centre, the STI/HIV Clinic at the BC Centre for Disease Control, Options for Sexual Health, Insite and the Sexual Assault Service. As the Nurse Educator for Trans Care BC, Lauren works with the Education Team to develop educational resources for care providers that promote comprehensive, affirming health services for trans individuals across BC. Lauren is a queer woman of Middle Eastern and European descent, currently living in the unceded Coast Salish Territory of Vancouver. She has a cheeky dog named Arthur, loves hot sauce, and is always on the lookout for foods that remind her of home.

Sandy Gunderson is a Surgical Coordinator nurse and cis-gender ally with Trans Care BC and part of the Care Coordination Team. Her work has taken her to remote northern communities as well as urban and inner city locations where she has had the privilege of working with diverse communities. Before finding her way to Trans Care BC, she worked in a remote health centre in Nunavut, with the Sexual Assault Service, Sheway, Vancouver Native Health and Three Bridges Primary Care where she worked with many gender diverse clients. Sandy is excited to be able to continue supporting gender diverse people through her role at Trans Care BC. Sandy is passionate about accessible and competent health care for all British Columbians, and is currently enrolled in a Masters of Public Health program through the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Sandy was born and raised in the Lower Mainland and in her spare time likes to watch scary movies and dog videos on Facebook.