Healthcare for Transgender People: Interview with Elke Zschaebitz, Nurse Practitioner

I sat down with Elke Jones Zschaebitz, DNP, ARPN, FNP-BC, to discuss healthcare for transgender individuals.

WHAT WE COVER

What inspired Dr. Elke Jones Zschaebitz to work in health care specializing in care for LGBTQIA patients?

Can you help us understand gender identity we experience within versus the male or female categories we were assigned at birth?

What resources do transgender people need from their families and communities?

What if family, friends, and allies make mistakes?

How can churches assist people who are transgender and their loved ones?

What are some organizations, books, and resources to help us increase our understanding?

How is the COVID-19 pandemic affecting your work and the support you offer to people who are transgender?

ELKE JONES ZSCHAEBITZ

Elke Jones Zschaebitz, DNP, ARPN, FNP-BC is an Assistant Professor in the Educator Track in the Department of Advanced Practice Nursing at Georgetown University School of Nursing & Health Studies. Her focus areas of scholarship include intra-professional education initiatives; access to care for LGBTQIA patients including transgender hormone treatment; practice opportunities for FNPs using telehealth technologies. She has been in nursing practice since 1988. Her initial advanced practice work was civilian service in U.S. military primary care clinics for active duty members and their families in Germany. Prior to her appointment at Georgetown, an appointment was held at the University of Virginia School of Nursing where she was award the Innovative Teaching Award in 2009 for her work developing curriculum in a pilot program immersing NP students in Central Appalachia to learn more about culture, health and the use of telehealth technologies such as video-colposcopy. Previous global scholarship also included involvement in genotyping the Human Papilloma Virus in Tanzania among the Maasai tribal women to determine the need for alternative preventative vaccines in 2010. Dr. Zschaebitz's currently works in several primary care settings with a focus on primary care, reproductive health and hormone therapy for transgender patients. Her ongoing scholarship foci addresses various social health disparities such as autism, LGBTQIA care as well as the integration of telehealth technologies to educate nurses and improve access to specialty care. She has spoken at many state-wide, national and international conferences on these topics and partners with the UVA Office of Telehealth in telehealth initiatives. She has been an author in several peer-reviewed nursing publications.