https://hellocare.com.au/should-aged-care-staff-be-tasked-with-dilating-post-op-transgender-residents/
Gwenda Darling, a vibrant and outspoken member of the Aged Care Council of Elders, has been a familiar face at aged care conferences over the past decade. And while vibrant pink is no longer a shock to most in the sector, some of the topics that she enjoys talking about are. Gwenda’s candid discussions about sex and sexuality in aged care and disability care, topics often considered taboo, have been both refreshing and challenging in a sector that increasingly emphasises sensitivity in language. Gwenda, diagnosed with behaviour-variant frontotemporal dementia 12 years ago, recently highlighted a growing concern in aged care: the needs of post-op transgender individuals, particularly the necessity of dilating cosmetically created sex organs to closure.
Why would any person undergoing this surgery need a nurse's help for this... are we assuming they were in a catastrophic accident and suffered both a brain injury and loss of their arms/hands??
This may also need to be done for cis women who have had cancer treatment, would it be okay then?
If we are imagining the future where an octogenarian trans woman is in a nursing home - is it realistic to assume they will still be sexually active and needing this? Think about it, I mean, we don't even treat older women with prolapses properly.
I never thought about a transgender with dementia needing to dilate everyday. Is this even a possibility at this point in life? You can barely get a dementia client to bathe let alone having this done to them. I wouldn't chance it.
Reminds me of a couple of very confused old women I took care of in a nursing home who needed a pessary removed and cleaned . It was a nightmare .
I wouldn't put a whole lot of thought into this story. Sounds a bit like someone searching to create a bit of drama to me. A bit like shouting "mask" in a crowded theater. All about attention.
Nor is the “closure” of the neovagina due to lack of dilation a life threatening medical issue. It impedes sexual function, but it won’t kill you.
Untrained personnel would not be expected to do dilations in the instance of vaginoplasty surgery. Though the medication RNs may be trained in how to deliver vaginal hormones to prevent incontinence (which is accomplished because the hormones "plump up" the urethral tissue and allow it to more easily hold the urine). Or to give vaginal suppositories for fungal infection and for other medical reasons.