Abstract
This study aimed to determine the attitude and behaviors of senior nursing students towards assessing the sexual health of the individuals to whom they give care during their nursing studies. The study was designed as a descriptive study. Data were collected using the personal information form and the Sexual Attitude and Belief Survey (SABS). This study was approved by the relevant ethics committee and institutions. 95% of the students were informed about sexual health. 68.9% of the students stated that they can talk about sexual health issues with the individuals to whom they give care. Students' mean total SABS score is 32.54 ± 6.86. The mean total SABS score was found to be associated with the gender of the student, being informed about sexual health, having sufficient knowledge about sexual health, and the ability to discuss sexual health with the individuals to whom they give care. We found that students who believe it is more appropriate to receive requests from patients to talk about sexual health issues had higher mean of SABS score. Also students who believe individual, religious, social, and institutional factors may affect their ability to provide sexual health care were more likely to have challenges in evaluating patients' sexualities. We conclude that despite having positive attitudes and behaviors regarding sexual health care, nursing students do not feel confident in their ability to provide sexual health care and have difficulties initiating care.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
East, L., Hutchinson, M.: Moving beyond the therapeutic relationship: a selective review of intimacy in the sexual health encounter in nursing practice. J. Clin. Nurs. 22(23–24), 3568–3576 (2013)
Bal, M.D.: Hemşirelerin cinsel bakıma ilişkin tutum ve inançları. Hemşirelikte Eğitim ve Araştırma Dergisi 11(3), 38–42 (2014)
Evcili, F., Demirel, G.: Patient's sexual health and nursing: a neglected area. Int. J. Caring Sci. 11(2), 1282–1288 (2018)
Huang, C.Y., Tsai, L.Y., Tseng, T.H., Li, C.R., Lee, S.: Nursing students’ attitudes towards provision of sexual health care in clinical practice. J. Clin. Nurs. 22(23–24), 3577–3586 (2013)
Tsai, L.Y., Huang, C.Y., Liao, W.C., Tseng, T.H., Lai, T.J.: Assessing student nurses' learning needs for addressing patients' sexual health concerns in Taiwan. Nurse Educ. Today 33(2), 152–159 (2013)
Pibernat, A.D., Rodríguez, F.J.P., Pibernat, E.D., Vidal, J.R., Vidal, J.R.: Is sexual health an issue in nursing education? Eur. J. Cardiovasc. Nurs. 14(6), 466–467 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1177/1474515115586710
Kolbe, N., Kugler, C., Schnepp, W., Jaarsma, T.: Sexual counseling in patients with heart failure: a silent phenomenon: results from a convergent parallel mixed method study. J. Cardiovasc. Nurs. 31(1), 53–61 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1097/JCN.0000000000000215
Blakey, E.P., Aveyard, H.: Student nurses’ competence in sexual health care: a literature review. J. Clin. Nurs. 26(23–24), 3906–3916 (2017)
Bal, M.D., Sahiner, N.C.: Turkish nursing students’ attitudes and beliefs regarding sexual health. Sex. Disabil. 33(2), 223–231 (2015)
Ozbas, A.A., Gurhan, N., Duyan, V.: An evaluation of sexual attitudes of nursing students in Turkey. Psikiyatri Hemşireliği Dergisi 7(3), 114–120 (2016)
Aker, M.N., Uslu, E., Tuna, P.T., Molu, B.: Attitude and belief of nursing students towards sexual health care. Ankara Sağlık Bilimleri Dergisi 7(1), 41–49 (2018)
Reynolds, K.E., Magnan, M.A.: Nursing attitudes and beliefs toward human sexuality, collaborative research promoting evidence-based practice. Clin. Nurse Spec. 19(5), 255–259 (2005)
Ayhan, H., Iyigun, E., Tastan, S., Coskun, H.: Turkish version of the reliability and validity study of the sexual attitudes and belief survey. Sex. Disabil. 28(4), 287–296 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11195-010-9157-5
Saunamaki, N., Engstrom, M.: Registered nurses’ reflections on discussing sexuality with patients: responsibilities, doubts and fears. J. Clin. Nurs. 23(3–4), 531–540 (2014)
Gulturk, E., Akpınar, A., Sen, S.R., Balcı, H.: Sexuality assessment: Nurses’ attitudes and beliefs toward sexuality. Istanbul Bilim University Florence Nightingale J. Med. 4(1), 63–70 (2018). https://doi.org/10.5606/fng.btd.2018.009
Sung, S.C., Husang, H.C., Lin, M.H.: Relationship between the knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy on sexual health care for nursing students. J. Prof. Nurs. 31(3), 254–261 (2015)
Kong, S.K.F., Wu, L.H., Loke, A.Y.: Nursing students’ knowledge, attitude and readiness to work for clients with sexual health concerns. J. Clin. Nurs. 18(16), 2372–2382 (2009)
Wang, Y.H., Rong, J.R.: Factors associated with the provision of sexual health care by nursing students in hospitals: an analytical cross-sectional study. Int. J Stud. Nurs. 4(3), 71–80 (2019)
Afiyanti, Y.: Attitudes, belief and barriers of Indonesian oncology nurses on providing assistance to overcome sexuality problem. Nurse Media J. Nurs. 7(1), 15–23 (2017)
Oren, B., Zengin, N., Yazıcı, S., Akıncı, A.C.: Attitudes, beliefs and comfort levels of midwifery students regarding sexual counselling in Turkey. Midwifery 56, 152–157 (2017)
Ozan, Y.D., Duman, M., Cicek, Ö.: Nursing students’ experiences on assessing the sexuality of patients: mixed method study. Sex. Disabil. 37(4), 613–623 (2019)
Arikan, F., Meydanlioglu, A., Ozcan, K., Ozer, Z.C.: Attitudes and beliefs of nurses regarding discussion of sexual concerns of patients during hospitalization. Sex. Disabil. 33(3), 327–337 (2015)
Olsson, C., Berglund, A.L., Larsson, M., Athlin, E.: Patient's sexuality- A neglected area of cancer nursing? Eur. J. Oncol. Nurs. 16(4), 426–431 (2012)
Ekstrom, A.C., Nilsson, L., Apell, C., Palmius, D., Martensson, L.B.: Nurses challenges of supporting hospitalized patients regarding sexual-health issues. J. Nurs. Care 5(3), 1–6 (2016). https://doi.org/10.4172/2167-1168.1000344
Fennell, R., Grant, B.: Discussing sexuality in health care: A systematic review. J. Clin. Nurs. 28(17–18), 3065–3076 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.14900
West, L.M., Stepleman, L.M., Wilson, C.K., Campbell, J., Villarosa, M., Bodie, B., Decker, M.: It's supposed to be personal: Personal and educational factors associated with sexual health attitudes, knowledge, comfort and skill in health profession students. Am. J. Sex. Educ. 7(4), 329–354 (2012)
Sung, S.C., Lin, Y.C.: Effectiveness of the sexual healthcare education in nursing students' knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy on sexual healthcare. Nurse Educ. Today 33(5), 498–503 (2013)
Tugut, N., Golbasi, Z.: Sexuality assessment knowledge, attitude, and skill of nursing students: an experimental study with control group. Int. J. Nurs. Knowl. 28(3), 123–130 (2017)
Nakopoulou, E., Papaharitou, S., Hatzichristou, D.: Patients’ sexual health: a qualitative research approach on greek nurses’ perceptions. J. Sex. Med. 6(8), 2124–2132 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1743-6109.2009.01334.x
Golbası, Z., Evcili, F.: Hasta cinselliğinin değerlendirilmesi ve hemşirelik: Engeller ve öneriler. Anadolu Hemşirelik ve Sağlık Bilimleri Dergisi 16(3), 182–189 (2013)
Acknowledgements
The authors thanks all the students who agreed to participate in the study.
Funding
This study did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all the students included in the study.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Senturk Erenel, A., Cicek Ozdemir, S. Attitude and Behaviors of Senior Nursing Students in Assessment of Sexual Health. Sex Disabil 38, 503–514 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11195-020-09642-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11195-020-09642-3