Project To Address Education on Gender-Nonconforming Patient Care
Bailey Ferris, B.S.N., R.N., CEN, is one of three nurses nationwide selected as the first Emergency Nursing Diverse Voices Research Fellows by the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA).
His project addresses the minimal guidance available to emergency nurses on caring for gender-nonconforming patients and how that leads to distress for healthcare workers as well as potentially decreased quality of care.
Ferris, 30, is an Emergency Department nurse at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Hurst-Euless-Bedford. He transitioned to male at 19 and has 10 years of experience in emergency care.
“Generally, the impression I have is that people want to do well for all their patients,” Ferris said. “But when you don’t have the language or the social exposure for a specific group of people or may have the sensation you’re not doing it right, it can cause a lot of concern.”
A lack of knowledge can lead to poor patient care experiences – for example, handing a urinal to a patient who can’t use one.
The fellowship, which can extend to two years, will include participating in research activities at the ENA 2022 conference in Denver; partnering with Ph.D.-level nurses as mentors; developing a local research project; and presenting findings at the next annual conference.
“I’m very proud to see Bailey as one of three in the nation to receive this new fellowship,” said Julie Balluck, D.N.P., R.N., NEA-BC, chief nursing officer at Texas Health HEB. “His energy and drive to educate nurses is exemplary.”
Ferris is starting with background work, finding out more about existing nursing education on gender-nonconforming patients and learning more about the research process. He is pursuing a master’s degree in nursing education at the same time.
His passion for nursing education on the subject is also a way of life.
“I would consider myself a working example to say that the gender-nonconforming people you interact with on a day-to-day basis are not necessarily the people you might assume they are,” he said. “We can look like anybody, because we are anybody.”
Published July 19, 2022
