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various populations in order to facilitate access to
needed health care services.

3. It is important for the nurse to examine his or

her own cultural preferences in order to competently
care for someone of a differing culture; emotional
intelligence is a useful tool in caring for these special
populations.
4. Knowledge of the various racial and ethnic groups in
terms of cultural preferences, health risks, and health
preferences is needed to deliver culturally competent
health care.
III. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and queer or questioning Individuals
A. Commonly referred to as the LGBTQ community, this group is
represented by a wide range of varying characteristics in terms of
race, ethnicity, age, socioeconomic status, and identity.
B. Unfortunately, stigma and discrimination is a reason for their
identification as a special population.

C. Often, there is a lack of awareness and understanding

among health care professionals in managing the health care needs
of this population, therefore access to health care to meet their
needs is less compared with other population groups.
D. Descriptions
1. The term sexual orientation is an encompassing term
used to describe a person’s behavior, identity, and
desire. A variety of words may be used to describe
sexual orientation, including men-who-have-sex-with-
men (MSM), women-who-have-sex-with-women (WSW),
or gay, lesbian, asexual, bisexual, pansexual, queer, or
same-gender loving.
2. The term transgender is used to describe individuals
who do not identify as a person with their birth sex.
Other terms to describe transgender individuals,
include male-to-female (MTF), female-to-male (FTM). For
additional information, refer to GLAAD Media Reference
Guide: Transgender
athttps://www.glaad.org/reference/transgender.
3. Important research is needed with regard to the health
care needs of various gender identities.

4. Using the preferred pronoun when addressing

these clients is important in developing and
maintaining a rapport.
E. Risk factors

1. Some LGBTQ persons may be less likely to

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