Media contact: Hannah Echols
Lisa Pair, DNP
Photography: Frank CouchThe Alabama League for Nursing Faculty in Nursing awarded Lisa Pair, DNP, assistant professor at University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing, a grant to enhance diversity, equity and inclusion in the school’s Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner Pathway. Pair will work with the school’s diversity, equity and inclusion office to assess content within the Women’s Health Care Nurse Practitioner Specialty curriculum to ensure it meets the needs of all populations.
“In women’s health, we serve a diverse population of patients, including transgender patients, LGBTQ+ patients and other patients from marginalized communities with reproductive health needs,” Pair said. “The goal of enhancing DEI content in our curriculum is to help educate future providers on the importance of separating their personal views from optimal care for their patients.”
While the current curriculum addresses some DEI topics, including care for a diverse patient population, Pair says this is an opportunity to improve the curriculum by ensuring the dissemination of best practices for the care of LGBTQ+ individuals and other communities that face marginalization, discrimination and stigma. It will also ensure that graduates are prepared to deliver high-quality, evidence-based care with cultural humility when they enter the workforce.
“This is important because awareness of religious and social differences, social determinants of health, and more can affect the type of care that patients can receive,” Pair said. “As providers, we need to be able to identify any barriers and help bridge those gaps to ensure the safest and highest-quality care for our patients.”
Read more about the grant and DEI initiative here.