Today’s Pride Month interview is with nurse Chloe Martin:
Hi, Chloe! I hope you’re staying safe and healthy during current events. As a nurse, you’ve been on the front-lines during the Covid-19 pandemic. I cannot imagine how stressful that’s been. What have you done to keep yourself motivated and at peace during all of this?
Things have been really busy and weird at work, and at home. I’ve been missing my usual stress reliever (swimming) a lot since the pools closed. But now that the weather is nicer I’m trying to embrace and enjoy my home by doing a bunch of yard projects. Work wise it’s easy to stay motivated because I love my patients. I split my time between my regular job (recovery room) and working in the ICU, which was a change but I enjoyed getting back to my roots even though it wasn’t an ideal situation.
Since June is Pride Month, I have to ask about being openly bisexual in the medical profession. Like teaching, there was a time when it felt inconceivable to be out and be a doctor or nurse. What have your experiences been like in that regard?
It’s funny because even though I’m fairly outspoken about being bisexual, most people probably don’t know because I’m married to a man, and he also works in the hospital. Everyone knows we’re a couple so unless I outright say I’m not, everyone assumes I’m straight. I currently work in a Catholic hospital and I was initially worried about it conflicting with my values, but they are actually very accepting. My friend and coworker who invited me to apply is a lesbian who is very out, so that was a good indicator that I was going to fit in. I try to bring it up whenever it’s relevant at work, even tangentially, because I want people to know that it’s okay, and hopefully it will let someone else know that they don’t have to hide behind being straight-passing if they don’t want to. It doesn’t generally come up with patients, but if it does I haven’t noticed any changes in the way I’m treated. My hospital hasn’t said anything to me about it either. Because I didn’t become a nurse until 2015, I didn’t have to experience a time when it wasn’t so accepted to be out.
I would be really interested to hear your take as a medical professional on pandemic response, whether we really have flattened the curve, and what you think the near future will look like.
I’m definitely not an expert on this, but I don’t think it’s time to let up on restrictions yet. We should still be masking, socially distancing, and avoiding unnecessary outings. I am guilty of not being perfect at this, I have been to the hardware store more than is strictly necessary, but otherwise I’m limiting my outings to the grocery store or WalMart and takeout food places only. We haven’t seen my parents but one time since February, which has been really hard on my daughter and me; we went on an outdoor walk one time a couple weeks ago but it was so hard to be so close to them and not be able to hug them that I’m not sure we’ll do it again until a safer time.
I do think the curve has been flattened, but we can’t just stop flattening it now. We’re lucky in where we live, our case rates are low and we haven’t inundated the hospitals, but we do still have COVID patients in our ICUs and there are only so many beds.
You and your husband are both bisexual. Bisexual erasure is sadly still a thing in the LGBTQIA community. Can you talk a little bit about your experiences with it?
I touched on this a bit before, but it’s frustrating sometimes. Unless I actively insert the information into a conversation, nobody ever knows that I’m bisexual. And it feels forced sometimes to get the info out there. But I feel like if I don’t say anything then there are going to be other people in silence who think they are alone. I have been fortunate to not experience much discrimination because of my straight relationship, but I’m still part of the LGBTQIA community. I try to be outspoken BECAUSE I have this privileged platform.
Finally, what inspires you?
My kiddo—she inspires me to do better.
Chloe Martin is a registered nurse in a post anesthesia care unit, a family nurse practitioner student, and a wife and mother of a 3 year old daughter.