Being a Queer Nurse

Most days I'm a nurse. Some days I get to be a queer nurse as well, and my last few days at work have been those types of days.

In WA state you can create a medical durable power of attorney (DPOA) by simply filling out the paperwork. No witness or notary is needed. The wonderful thing about this is that it gives me, the nurse standing at your bedside making smart ass comments as she hands you your pain meds, the ability to address the issue of who has decision making powers.

My patient this week was a very nice man with a new HIV+ diagnosis. He was also quite sick, sick enough that you can stand in the doorway and know that this kid is not well. His equally nice boyfriend was at his bedside, very concerned about the situation. I knew that it was most likely he would make it through this hospitalization okay, but there are no guarantees. I've seen too many HIV+ men in the ICU with PCP pneumonia, on a vent, being flogged to keep them going.

So I talked DPOA with my patient and his bf. I was a queer nurse.

Would a straight nurse have done the same? Maybe. They have the same resources I do. But do they have the same concerns or the same understanding of the situation? For me, it was just as important to give those boys the option of signing DPOA paperwork as it was to make sure my client was comfortable and safe.

I hope some day issues around queer health care will be understood at a broader level and not left to the occassional queer practitioner.