title: Registered nurses' attitudes toward the protection of gays and lesbians in the workplace.
abstract: This study explores the attitudes of registered nurses toward a nondiscrimination policy in the workplace protective of gays and lesbians and the overall homophobia of nurses. A potential sample of 520 registered nurses licensed in Florida was randomly selected from the state Board of Nursing licensee database. In all, 165 surveys were used in the analysis of the data. Structural equation modeling indicated that support of a nondiscrimination policy protective of gay men and lesbians in the workplace was negatively correlated with homophobia with a critical ratio value of -4.01. Nonsupport of a nondiscrimination policy was positively correlated with homophobia with a critical ratio value of 3.23. This finding suggests that the inclusion of workplace policies protective of gay men and lesbians might help decrease homophobic and discriminatory treatment that gay and lesbian nurses often encounter in the workplace.
authors.affiliation: University of Central Florida, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Blackwell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002961:Civil Rights / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida; D006252:Hate; D006716:Homosexuality; D006801:Humans; D016018:Least-Squares Analysis; D008008:Licensure, Nursing; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology*; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D016134:Organizational Policy; D011287:Prejudice; D012928:Social Desirability; D012935:Social Justice; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017132:Workplace / Q000458:organization & administration*