In this episode of Nursing Strategies for Success, host Damian Jenkins interviews Shannon Whittington, a clinical nurse educator, consultant, author, and LGBTQ+ advocate. Shannon shares her personal nursing journey—from early exposure in a nursing home, through cardiology, transplant, and home‑care roles, to her current focus on transgender post‑operative and gender‑affirming care. She identifies a critical knowledge gap: the average nurse receives only about 2.12 hours of LGBTQ+ education, leaving most clinicians unprepared for queer patients. To address this, Shannon and Damian are co‑creating an online, person‑centered LGBTQ+ care course for hospitals and nursing homes, and she is finalizing a concise illustrated book, LGBTQ+ ABCs for Grown‑ups, that explains terminology, flags, and basic concepts. Shannon also points listeners to immediate resources—her YouTube channel, LinkedIn, website, Instagram, and occasional TikTok—where she posts educational videos and content. The conversation expands to professional branding, noting how Shannon leverages a consulting side‑hustle and online presence to expand impact, and she encourages nurses experiencing burnout to explore alternative career paths within the profession. The episode concludes with calls to action: visit Shannon’s website, follow her social platforms, and stay tuned for the upcoming course and book releases.
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Thank you so much for joining me for another episode of Nursing Strategies for Success. Today's guest is Shannon Whittington. She is a speaker, author, consultant, and clinical nurse educator. Her area of expertise is LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace. Shannon was honored to receive the Quality and Innovation Award from the Home Care Association of New York and was recently awarded the Notable LGBTQ+ Leaders and Executives Award by Crain's New York Business. Shannon is a city and state lobbyist for transgender equality, and recently Shannon was awarded Pride Power List 100 New York City and State. To date, Shannon has presented virtually and in person at various organizations and conferences across the nation delivering extremely well-received presentations. I have the privilege of working with Shannon as we're designing an amazing LGBTQ+ inclusivity training for person-centered care that is going to be offered to healthcare organizations and institutions across the country. So sit back, relax, and learn all of the strategies that Shannon is here to share with you today. Okay, so thank you so much, Shannon, for being with us today on the show. As you know, we are discussing nursing strategies for success. So why don't you take a minute and introduce yourself to the audience? Let them know a little bit about who you are and where you've come from on your nursing journey.
Oh, thank you so much, Damion. I am so excited to be here with you on your podcast today. My name is Shannon Whittington. My pronouns are she/her/hers. Identify as a cis gay woman. I am a clinical nurse educator in the LGBTQ+ space. I'm also an avid gardener and have a dog and identify as a gay woman, if I didn't say that.
Nice, very good. So what kind of dog do you have?
I have a little Schnauzer downstairs. You might hear her barking when mommy comes home.
Nice, awesome. So Tell us a little bit about your nursing journey. Where did you start off? Where are you now?
My nursing journey started in a nursing home when I was 3 years old.
Okay.
I gave my first injection and pills. Of course, the injection was my finger and the patients always took it and said it didn't hurt. And my pills were M&M's and they always took those very easily. So I was in the nursing home because my aunt was a nurse and I was following her to work. So I was around patients from such an early age. And she worked the night shift. I would sleep on the couch in the lobby. And then I decided that I wanted to be a nurse at 5 years old and started out like as a nurse assistant at that nursing home and then eventually went on into nursing and started working in cardiology. And then I moved to Atlanta, started working on— that was in Tennessee. And then when I moved to Atlanta, I started working in transplants. Liver and kidney transplants. And I moved to New York, started working in cardiology again. And then I really found my niche in home care. And that's where I've been ever since. And now I'm a clinical educator around transgender post-operative surgeries, gender-affirming surgeries, where I teach clinicians how to take care of these individuals after they have surgery.
Awesome. That sounds like very important work that you're doing, a very needed niche in nursing for certain. Um, you know, let's just kind of provide a little bit of context for the audience and, and let them know, how did you get into that particular niche? What need did you identify? And, um, how are you enjoying that process so far?
Well, I knew nothing about this particular population even though I am part of the community. And at the time, my boss said, oh, they're doing these surgeries at this hospital, you know, go check check it out because they want us to take care of their patients after they have the surgery. So that's how I started, really not knowing, which goes to show you what the power of yes can do for your career. It's changed the trajectory of my career and my life. And then after I've been doing this work for— do you hear her now?
I hear the dogs barking.
After I've been doing this work for about a year, I got an award for it for quality and innovation by the Home Care Association of New York, like one of 9 in the entire state. And after I gave I gave my little 3-minute acceptance speech. Afterwards, a lot of people kind of, you know, crowded around me and they wanted to talk to me about it because it was so specialized niche, like you said. And one of my colleagues was there and she just said, Shannon, you should start a consulting company. And it kind of just evolved from there where I did start my own consulting company and really trying to address this lack of knowledge.
Nice, very nice. So, um, and are you still working for an organization, hospital group, system?
Yeah, still working for organization and doing my side hustle.
Awesome.
And in school at the same time.
Oh, so you're very busy.
Yeah, that's an understatement. You know, it's no joke, right?
But you know, like, just, just as you know, the trailer of this podcast says is that Nurses really can do anything. And you have found that to be true thus far, I hope, with all of your accomplishments as you move through your nursing journey and where you are today, you know, businesswoman, you're in your doctorate studies, you're working for a large hospital group, you're doing this amazing work with Affirming Care. This is— I mean, you have so many accomplishments, so you should be very proud of yourself.
Well, thank you.
My pleasure. So I want to get into, you know, let's talking about the nursing strategy for success, or strategies if you will, on whatever issue, concern, or problem that you've identified, because we're really here to teach our audience how they can navigate the complexities and challenges that our profession faces. So, uh, what is the issue or concern that you want to address today?
Well, you know, there's two issues. One, one issue is what I've noticed is the lack of knowledge that clinicians have around queer healthcare in general. Like anyone in the LGBTQ+ community receiving healthcare from us, I noticed that we have a real lack of knowledge in this area, Damion. Yeah, the average nurse receives about 2.12 hours in this educational area. And I'm still waiting to meet that nurse. I get a new nursing student every semester, from Ivy League to no league, and I always ask them, did you get any education in this? And most the time, 9 times out of 10, they say no, right? Which means that what type of care are we receiving when we go to the doctor, when we go to the hospital, when we go to the ER? If we have clinicians that don't know how to take care of us. So that's what I am addressing.
Awesome. So that is a major need. Um, as a member of the LGBTQ+ community myself, I can say that that is something that I've always noticed was lacking in nursing education, not only in academic nursing, but also in clinical nursing. Um, so I definitely identify that as a need as well. And I wish, as being a gay man, that my clinicians that take care of me, my doctors, my nurses, uh, therapists, that they were better prepared to deal with the complexities or the individualized needs of me being a gay man, um, because my health needs might be different than say, a straight man, right? So, you know, this is definitely a need. And so since you've identified this need, what strategies have you found, discovered, learned, or are implementing so that healthcare professionals, especially nurses, can navigate this complex situation, whether they're members of the LGBTQ+ community or if they're just trying to provide safe effective and person-centered care.
Ah, yes, let's talk about strategy because that's what this podcast is all about. That's right, they have a saying in New York, you see it on the subways, if you see something, say something. So my saying is, if you see something, do something.
Absolutely.
So I saw a lack and I am doing something. So along with my amazing colleague Damion Jenkins, we are creating a LGBTQ+ person-centered care online course that's going to be available to every hospital, every nursing home, every healthcare provider in this country and deliver this message, deliver this education to them in a non-traditional educational nursing way. So it's not dull and boring. It's not, you gotta fill this out and then you gotta read this and you're You know, no, not at all. It's going to be revolutionary with how we're going, because that's how you get people's attention. That's how people learn, right? It has to be a little bit different. You really got to ignite something in them. And what we want to do is transform how healthcare is delivered to this community. So that's one thing I'm doing.
Awesome.
The second thing that I'm doing is one thing that we're doing. And the second thing that I'm doing is, uh, in the final process, it's final stages of releasing my book LGBTQ+ ABCs for Grown-ups. And this is a really short read, fun, cute little book that's, you know, has beautiful images that explains the letters, that explains the flags, that explains the different terminology in a very, very simplistic way. So like you were saying, people who want to be allies or support this population and really have anybody to ask, uh, hopefully this book addresses that. So those are two big things that I'm doing to really meet the need that's out there.
Awesome. So now, you know, you've mentioned that you and I are working on creating this content, right? And then you've written a book to kind of help introduce individuals to this concept. Now, what strategies are transferable or tangible in the moment, in the now, that we can give to our audience? What can they do to start this process? How can they learn about LGBTQ+ person-centered care inclusivity while they're waiting for the book or while they're waiting for the course to come out? Um, are there resources that you have available? Is there a way that individuals can get into creating those strategies right now, um, so that they can begin providing that person-centered care that all of us deserve?
You know, there has to be like interest, right? And, and, uh, there's a saying that you don't know what you don't know. Like, I didn't know, I didn't know about trans, and you don't know, you don't know it, right? Um, so yeah, I have a YouTube channel that explains a lot. You can just watch those videos. My main platform is LinkedIn. I talk about the flags, colors, what things mean, like all the time. So the information is out there, and it's out there, you know, other people are doing it as well. So, um, It's readily available. It's just having the interest in it. You know, I was talking to a nurse yesterday who said, I took care of my first trans patient and I was so nervous. I didn't know what to do. And he was nervous because he didn't know, he didn't have the skill set that he needed to take care of this patient. And I said, you know, in all likelihood, this patient wasn't in the ER because they're trans. They were in the ER for, I don't know, UTI, cough, whatever it is. Right. They just happened to be Transgender. So yeah, those are some, some of the resources.
Yeah. And I recently heard from someone that you interviewed that, you know, being in a healthcare environment is because they have a need that goes beyond who they are, right? And so, you know, the first step in providing this person-centered care is to know who they are First, address them as the being that they have the right to be addressed by. Same way when we ask, you know, non-LGBTQ+ patients, what is your name? What do you prefer to be called? We ask that of our patients already. So why is it such a problem when we are identifying someone who is visibly transitioning or who is visibly or outwardly gay or lesbian? Right. So there really shouldn't be a difference there. But, you know, so thank you for letting us know about your YouTube channel. So what is the name of your YouTube channel? How do people find that?
That's Shannon Whittington Consulting. I also have videos on my website, Shannon Whittington Consulting, and then LinkedIn is Shannon Whittington. It's pretty standard throughout.
Perfect.
All the platforms.
Yeah. Perfect. So all of you listening, if you want to learn more about the flags, more about the language that's being used around the LGBTQ+ community, affirming care techniques or strategies, you know, how to really leverage the human factor when you're caring for these individuals. And if you have questions for Shannon, um, please go visit her at shannonwhittington.com. Check her out on LinkedIn, connect with her, check out her YouTube channel. Um, what other platforms are you on, Shannon?
I'm on, uh, Instagram because that's really closely associated with Clubhouse. And then I do have, uh, TikTok page that I don't use as frequently. You know, it's always about having time to do all those platforms, but LinkedIn is my main one. And I do respond to all of my DMs, even though I do have a big following on LinkedIn. I do respond to all of my DMs, and I have a lot of people. I mean, that's how you and I met, Damion. We met on LinkedIn. So that's another thing for nurses to really think about. You know, I was saying that there was two things that I've noticed, or you said that strategies, and one of them is to develop your brand outside of where you work.
And that is a whole nother topic that I'm sure we will talk about in the future.
It is.
I actually can speak to that quite well. Professional branding for career success is something that is so important. And look, guys, you guys got 3 strategies for success on today's show. So really, you know, This work, we're hoping that we can continue to spread the word that nurses can do anything. We have lots of experience to share. Shannon Whittington is a force to be reckoned with and definitely someone you want to collaborate with. I can attest to that since we've been working together. Lots of magic has been happening. And, uh, stay tuned because we are going to be dropping information about when the course is coming out to, to provide to healthcare institutions. When her book comes out, when additional collaborations or projects are coming out for consumption. So we're going to have tons of information. So stay tuned, keep in touch. And thank you so much, Shannon, for sharing these strategies with our audience today.
You are welcome. Let me say one more thing before we end it today.
Absolutely.
Because I'm seeing this a lot, especially with COVID now. A lot of nurses are just leaving. They just can't take it. It's too much for them. And I totally understand that they're leaving the bedside. There's more to nursing than the bedside. Don't leave the profession if you haven't given some other shots, okay? You haven't taken some other shots. I mean, there's more to it than that. So I don't leave the profession just because you don't— because bedside nursing is too stressful or whatever. Think about alternative careers as nurses and reach out to us because we're both doing it. And Damion is slaying it. He's a podcaster. Come on, he's got his own— he's got his own program on— teaches nurses how to pass NCLEX. I mean, there's so much that you can do. Like We can do anything. So thank you for having me today.
Thank you so much for being here with us. Stick around everyone. I will have all of Shannon's contact information in the show notes and thanks for being here with us today.
Thank you. You're waving. So I'm waving. Alrighty.
That concludes today's episode with guest Shannon Whittington. We hope that all of the strategies provided today will help you develop actionable plans for improved outcomes, whether it's professional, personal, for your patients, or your communities. If you haven't learned by now that nurses can do anything, then just stick around because we have lots of strategies for success in our upcoming episodes. You can find all of Shannon Whittington's contact information in the show notes below this podcast and at thenursespeak.com/podcast. If you have any questions for me, feel free to reach out. I'm always available to answer any questions that you may have. Until next time, be well and take care.
