Integral health care for transgender adolescents: subsidies for nursing practice.
Paula Daniella de Abreu, Pedro Fredemir Palha, Rubia Laine de Paula Andrade and 3 others
PMID 36449927WHAT IT FOUND
Guardians of transgender adolescents reported that health services are centralized and unprepared, forcing them to navigate long waits and seek private or informal care.
They described nurses as largely absent from their support network, with only one participant mentioning nursing care.
Key findings
01Only one participant mentioned nursing in the interviews, indicating a gap in nurses' visibility and role in the care of transgender adolescents and their families.
02Access to specialized care was described as highly centralized and difficult, with waiting lists lasting over a year and few outpatient clinics available for children and adolescents.
03Lack of qualified support and access to hormonal treatment led some families to consider or experience indiscriminate self-hormonization or reliance on non-medical networks.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Participants were recruited from organized civil society support networks, which may exclude guardians who are isolated, do not accept their child's identity, or lack access to these groups. The study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have intensified barriers to care and isolation. The sample was small (22 guardians) and skewed toward mothers (20 of 22), limiting the generalizability of the findings to all family structures. The study reports experiences and perceptions, not clinical outcomes or effectiveness of interventions.
Declared interests
The study was part of a supplement supported by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) and funded by CAPES and FACEPE. The authors declared no other conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the lack of nursing mentions in this study as evidence that nurses are not capable of providing care. The paper reports the perceptions of guardians who may not have encountered knowledgeable nurses, rather than measuring nursing competence or availability. It identifies a gap in visibility and engagement, not a lack of potential.