Doctor of Nursing Practice Program

• Committee Chair Name & Credentials:
  Melissa G. Davis DNP CNM FNP
 

 

DNP Project Abstract

An Educational Intervention Improved the L&D Nursing Unit’s Confidence in Caring for LGBTQ+ Clients.

Purpose
The purpose of this project was to improve the confidence of Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) labor and delivery (L&D) nurses by 50% as measured by Likert scores on a modified LGBT-DOCSS (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transsexual-Development of Clinical Skills Scale) survey tool after an educational intervention delivered from October 2022 to December 2022.

Methods
A brief description of the project, along with a link to an anonymous Google survey, was emailed to all Vanderbilt L&D nurses in October 2022. A separate 11-minute voiceover PowerPoint educational presentation and a post survey were also attached, along with a demographic questionnaire. Surveys and demographic results were collected through the end of December 2022. Demographic data and pre and post survey results were analyzed.

Results
There were 26 respondents to the demographic survey. 15 respondents, or 58%, had only 0 to 5 years of experience in reproductive health care, while 3 respondents, or 12%, had 20 + years’ experience in reproductive care. Twenty-two (84.6%) of the initial respondents to the pre survey went on to complete the post survey.

Among the respondents to the critical question “I feel competent to care for a client who is LGBTQ+ in a clinical setting,” the mean pre-post survey scores rose from 4.5 to 5.1, or a 13.3% increase in feeling competent. Likert scores ranged from 0-7, with 0 meaning “strongly disagree,” and 7 meaning “strongly agree.”

Implications for Practice
This project demonstrated that a short, simple educational session can have an impact on nurses’ personal confidence and comfort levels when working with LGBTQ+ populations. Not only could a similar session be used on different units, but such a tool could be modified for different educational needs. Educational sessions around issues of racial inequity, bias, and safety in childbirth could also be explored.