Abstract
The aim of the study was to describe nurses’ attitudes and beliefs towards discussing sexuality with patients. Sexual health is a state of physical, emotional, mental and social well-being in relation to sexuality. Sexual dysfunction occurs quite commonly in the community. A descriptive and comparative design was adopted to explore Turkish nurses’ attitudes and beliefs towards discussing sexuality with patients. The rate of participation of nurses was found to be 89 %. Data collection form consisted of two parts: demographic information and the inventory of Sexuality Attitudes and Beliefs Survey (SABS). Mean scores of the nurses SABS was 41.58 ± 7.67. Status of offering counselling on sexuality was found to be significantly related to the SABS scores (p < 0.05). The majority of nurses (72.2 %) disagreed with spending more time to discuss sexual concerns with their patients, 68.9 % viewed sexuality as ‘too private an issue to discuss’. In this study, it was established that nurses were aware of the concerns of the patients about sexuality, but their practical attempts to relieve those concerns were not adequate. In view of these results, it is recommended that sexuality should be discussed more openly in basic education curriculum and that inservice training on the issue of sexuality and health should be addressed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Verschuren, J.E.A., Enzlin, P., Dijkstra, P.U., Geertzen, J.H.B., Dekker, R.: Chronic disease and sexuality: a generic conceptual framework. J. Sex Res. 47, 153–170 (2010)
World Health Organization. Sexual and reproductive health. http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/topics/sexual_health/sh_definitions/en/index.html. Accepted 24 July 2013
McCabe, M.P., Cummins, R.A., Deeks, A.A.: Sexuality and quality of life among people with physical disability. Sex Disabil. 18, 115–123 (2000)
Bispo, G.S., Lima Lopes, J., Barros, A.L.: Cardiovascular changes resulting from sexual activity and sexual dysfunction after myocardial infarction: integrative review. J. Clin. Nurs. 22, 1–10 (2013)
Pınar, G.: Kanser tedavisi alan hastalarda cinsel disfonksiyon ve danışmanlığa ilişkin hemşirelik yaklaşımları. Gülhane Tıp Dergisi 52, 241–247 (2010)
Kalter-Leibovici, O., Wainstein, J., Ziv, A., Harman-Bohem, I., Murad, H., Raz, I.: Clinical, socioeconomic, and lifestyle parameters associated with erectile dysfunction among diabetic men. Diabetes Care 28, 1739–1744 (2005)
Bahar, A., Savaş, H., Gördü, E.Y., Barlıoğlu, H.: Hemodiyaliz hastalarında anksiyete, depresyon ve cinsel yaşam. Anadolu Psikiyatri Dergisi 8, 287–292 (2007)
Böhm, G., Kirschner-Hermanns, R., Decius, A., et al.: Anorectal, bladder, and sexual function in females following colorectal surgery for carcinoma. Int. J. Colorectal Dis. 23, 893–900 (2008)
Jenkins, M., Ashley, J.: Sex and the oncology patient. Am. J. Nurs. 4, 13–15 (2002)
Mckee, A.L., Schover, L.R.: Sexuality rehabilitation. Cancer 92, 1008–1012 (2001)
Burwell, S.R., Case, L.D., Kaelin, C., Aviz, A.E.: Sexual problems in younger woman after breast cancer surgery. J. Clin. Oncol. 18, 2815–2821 (2006)
El Miedany, Y., El Gaafary, M., El Aroussy, N., Youssef, S., Ahmed, I.: Sexual dysfunction in rheumatoid arthritis patients: arthritis and beyond. Clin. Rheumatol. 4, 601–606 (2012)
Usalan, A.K., Polat, G., Büyükşirin, M., Delibaş, M., Kul, C., Tibet, G.: Kronik obstruktif akciğer hastalarında erektil disfonksiyon ve hastalık parametreleri ile ilişkisi. Turk. J. Geriatr. 14, 238–244 (2011)
Thakurta, R.G., Singh, O.P., Bhattacharya, A., Mallick, A.K., Ray, P., Sen, S., Das, R.: Nature of sexual dysfunctions in major depressive disorder and its impact on quality of life. Indian J. Psychol. Med. 34, 365–370 (2012)
Civil, B., Yıldız, H.: Erkek Öğrencilerin Cinsel Deneyimleri ve Toplumdaki Cinsel Tabulara Yönelik Görüşleri. Deuhyo Ed. 3, 58–64 (2010)
Akinci, A.C., Yildiz, H., Zengin, N.: The level of comfort among nursing students during sexual counseling to patients who have chronic medical conditions. Sex Disabil. 29, 11–20 (2011)
Akan, H., Doğan, S.: Birinci basamak sağlık hizmetinde cinsel işlev bozukluklarına yaklaşım. Türk Aile Hek Derg. 15, 69–76 (2011)
Tsai, Y.-F.: Nurses’ facilitators and barriers for taking a sexual history in Taiwan. Appl. Nurs. Res. 17, 257–264 (2004)
Magnan, M.A., Reynolds, K.E., Galvin, E.A.: Barriers to addressing patient sexuality in nursing practice. Medsurg Nurs. 14, 282–289 (2005)
Zeng, Y.C., Li, Q.P., Wang, N., Ching, S.S.Y., Loke, A.Y.: Chinese nurses’ attitudes and beliefs toward sexuality care in cancer patients. Cancer Nurs. 34, 14–20 (2011)
Reynolds, K.E., Magnan, M.A.: Nursing attitudes and beliefs toward human sexuality, collaborative research promoting evidence-based practice. Clin. Nurse Spec. 19, 255–259 (2005)
Ayhan, H., Iyigun, E., Taştan, S., Coşkun, H.: Turkish version of the reliability and validity study of the sexual attitudes and belief survey. Sex Disabil. 28, 287–296 (2010)
Magnan, M.A., Reynolds, K.E.: Barriers to addressing patient sexuality concerns across five areas of specialization. Clin. Nurse Spec. 20, 285–292 (2006)
Zeng, Y.C., Liu, X., Loke, A.Y.: Addressing sexuality issues of women with gynaecological cancer: chinese nurses’ attitudes and practice. J. Adv. Nurs. 68, 280–292 (2012)
Saunamaki, N., Andersson, M., Engstrom, M.: Discussing sexuality with patients: nurses’ attitudes and beliefs. J. Adv. Nurs. 66, 1308–1316 (2010)
Ferreira, M., Nelas, P., Duarte, J., Albuquerque, C., Grilo, C., Nave, F.: Family culture an adolescent sexuality. Aten. Primaria 45(2), 216–222 (2013)
Prince, N., Hawkins, K.: Researching sexual and reproductive behaviour: a peer ethnographic approach. Soc. Sci. Med. 55, 1325–1336 (2002)
Voermans, J.M., Van, H.L., Peen, J., Hengeveld, M.W.: Is there adequate discussion between psychiatrists and their patients regarding patients’ sexual problems? Tijdschr. Psychiatr. 54, 9–16 (2012)
Jaarsama, T., Stromberg, A., Fridlund, B., De Geest, S., Martensson, J., Moons, P., et al.: Sexual counselling of cardiac patients: nurses’ perception of practice, responsibility and confidence. Eur. J. Cardiovasc. Nurs. 9, 24–29 (2010)
Steinke, E.E.: Sexual counseling of MI patients: nurses’ comfort, responsibility and practice. Dimens. Crit. Care Nurs. 15, 216–223 (1996)
Algıer, L., Kav, S.: Nurses’ approach to sexuality-related issues in patients receiving cancer treatments. Turk. J. Cancer 38, 135–141 (2008)
Julien, J.O., Thom, B., Kline, N.E.: Identification of barriers to sexual health assessment in oncology nursing practice. Oncol. Nurs. Forum 37, 186–191 (2010)
Mahieu, L., Elssen, K.V., Gastmans, C.: Nurses’ perceptions of sexuality in institutionalized elderly: a literature review. Int. J. Nurs. Stud. 48, 1140–1154 (2011)
Simpson, G., Anwar, S., Wilson, J., Bertapelle, T.: Improving the rehabilitative management of client sexual health concerns after neurological disability: evaluation of a staff sexuality training programme in New Zealand. Clin. Rehabil. 20, 847–859 (2006)
Fronek, P., Kendall, M., Booth, S., Eugarde, E., Geraghty, T.: A longitudinal study of sexuality training for the interdisciplinary rehabilitation team. Sex Disabil. 29, 87–100 (2011)
Rana, Y., Kanik, A., Özcan, A., Yuzer, S.: Nurses’ approaches towards sexuality of adolescent patients in Turkey. J. Clin. Nurs. 16, 638–645 (2007)
Haboubi, N.H., Lincoln, N.: Views of health professionals on discussing sexual issues with patients. Disabil. Rehabil. 25(6), 291–296 (2003)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Arikan, F., Meydanlioglu, A., Ozcan, K. et al. Attitudes and Beliefs of Nurses Regarding Discussion of Sexual Concerns of Patients During Hospitalization. Sex Disabil 33, 327–337 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11195-014-9361-9
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11195-014-9361-9