Master of nursing student Jess Crawford in November spoke at the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing (CASN) 2022 Virtual Council Meeting on equity, diversity, inclusion.
A white settler, trans, non-binary grad student, they spoke in a forum alongside Lin Li, a PhD student in the School of Nursing at McMaster University, and Ovie Onagbeboma, founder of the Canadian Black Nurses Alliance.
The panel occurred the weekend following a mass shooting at a 2S/LGBTQiA+ nightclub in Colorado Springs, which influenced Jess’ presentation.
“It was never an option to not address the Colorado Springs violence at this forum, as 2S/LGBTQiA+ people and drag artists’ lives and wellbeing are at stake. So, I went off script, spoke from the heart, from the pain that I felt from the event, the fear for my safety, that of my friends, and that of the queer community,” they said.
“I needed nursing faculty to know about the real-time impacts of world events on their students,” they said.
“They need to do the work, now, to support their 2S/LGBTQiA+ students and to help their students provide safe nursing practice to 2S/LGBTQiA+ patients.”
Last fall, Jess received a $17,500 graduate scholarship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for their thesis, Student and faculty perspectives of gender inclusive and affirming curricula in nursing: An interpretive description study.
“I am hoping to bring to the forefront the current gender inclusive and affirming practices within undergraduate nursing education, identify barriers and facilitators to implementing this education, and guide future research and steps towards addressing gaps,” they said.