Nursing Students’ Experiences on Assessing the Sexuality of Patients: Mixed Method Study

A descriptive cross-sectional online survey of nursing and midwifery students and graduates' readiness to provide unplanned pregnancy and abortion care

BACKGROUND

Our understanding of how nursing and midwifery students in Australia are prepared to support people in unintended pregnancy prevention and care is currently limited.

OBJECTIVE

This study examined Australian nursing and midwifery students and recent graduates' perspectives on their preparation and confidence in providing unintended pregnancy prevention and care.

METHODS

A descriptive, cross-sectional online survey of nursing and midwifery students and graduates was undertaken. An invitation email with information sheet and link to the survey was sent to heads of departments at Australian universities for distribution to nursing and midwifery students. Social media platforms of professional organisations were used to promote the study to nurses and midwives within two years of graduation. The survey instrument was based on US educational competencies for unintended pregnancy prevention and care, adapted for the Australian context.

RESULTS

Participants (N = 109) from 14 institutions completed the survey. The majority of (92%) expressed that nursing and midwifery graduates should possess unintended pregnancy prevention and care knowledge and skills. Five competencies, out of 29, were identified as taught as core curriculum by 50% or more of participants; reproductive anatomy and physiology (72%); effective communication skills encompassing culture, sexual orientation, and gender identity (58%), understanding how contraceptives work (54%), obtaining a sexual/reproductive history (53%), and identifying preconception health risks (50%). Students felt well prepared to provide independent care related to pregnancy testing (44%), pregnancy prevention (26%), sexual history taking (23%), ethical/legal considerations around abortion (9%), options counseling/referral (5%), and pre/post-abortion care (5%).

CONCLUSION

With the decriminalization of abortion care, the Australian nursing and midwifery workforce must prepare students to care for people in all aspects of pregnancy prevention, early pregnancy decision-making, and abortion services. Our data show students are interested in this preparation but the entry-to-practice curricula has not yet been standardized to enable this.

Nursing students' attitudes and beliefs towards addressing sexual health: A multicentre study and latent class analysis

BACKGROUND

To provide competent and respectful sexual health care, a critical and comprehensive assessment of students' attitudes towards sexuality is needed, which implies using reliable and valid questionnaires.

AIM

To assess whether the extended version of the Students Attitude Towards Addressing Sexual Health (SA-SH-Ext) provides different, additional information about students' attitudes towards providing sexual healthcare compared to the Sexual Attitude and Beliefs Survey (SABS), to explore SA-SH-Ext potential response patterns through latent class analysis and to assess students' attitudes towards providing sexual healthcare and evaluate the differences in their attitudes to the cultural background and sociodemographic characteristics.

DESIGN

Multicentre, descriptive, analytical, comparative, and correlational cross-sectional study at three nursing faculties.

PARTICIPANTS

Nursing students n = 514 (Serbia n = 180, Poland n = 150 and Lithuania n = 184).

METHODS

A general questionnaire for obtaining sociodemographic data, SA-SH-Ext and SABS were used as students' report measures.

RESULTS

One part of the variance of each instrument does not overlap with the other, indicating that these instruments, in addition to the shared variance, provide different, additional information. A solution with three latent classes was found in the domain of responses to the SA-SH-Ext items. The response pattern placed nursing students in the class Comfortable and prepared in some situations, and the SABS score revealed students' moderately positive attitudes towards providing sexual healthcare. Significantly more conservative attitudes were demonstrated by students from Poland, those identifying their religious affiliation as Catholic and females, while first-year students showed more positive attitudes than those in later years of study.

CONCLUSIONS

The SA-SH-Ext and SABS enable a reliable and quick assessment of nursing students' comfort and competence in providing sexual healthcare. However, the differences in students' attitudes towards sexuality concerning belonging to a specific group imply a need for curriculum redesign and facilitating students to be more open to communication about sexuality with people with mental illnesses and intellectual and physical disabilities.

Strategies to Integrate Content on Consensual Nonmonogamy and the Transition to Parenthood Into Perinatal Education Practice

The aim of this clinical article is to provide perinatal educators with strategies on integrating content on consensual nonmonogamy (CNM) and parenthood into their perinatal education practice. The strategies are based on both authors' research programs and clinical practices. The article is divided into six sections: an overview of CNM and parenthood, perinatal education and CNM, perinatal educators' preparation for this integration, the three guiding principles underlying this integration, the nine strategies to adapt perinatal education for CNM and parenthood, and getting support and collaboration from different levels of associations for a successful integration curriculum outcome. Acknowledging and including all partners and family members in CNM-related perinatal education programs are part of providing inclusive and comprehensive education.

A Multicentric Pilot Study of Student Nurse Attitudes and Beliefs toward Sexual Healthcare

Nurse educators are tasked with the education of students to become providers of holistic care, and part of that care includes sexuality. Students carry attitudes and beliefs that influence their behavior; therefore, students who carry negative attitudes about sexual healthcare are less likely to provide that care. This is an international, multicenter study of nursing students' attitudes and beliefs about the provision of sexual healthcare. The Sexuality Attitudes and Beliefs Survey, which measures attitudes toward the provision of sexual healthcare and has a range of scores from 12 to 72, was given to 129 students across Spain, Portugal, Italy and the United States and revealed negative attitudes about sexuality, with a mean SABS score of 39.95. Higher scores on the SABS reveal more negative attitudes and reduced likelihood of provision of sexual healthcare. Statistically significant differences were found when comparing queer and heterosexual students (41.69 vs. 38.06), and students in their final year of school held more negative attitudes toward the provision of sexual healthcare (41.4 vs. 39.5 and 39.2). This study shows that nurse educators continue to need to focus on the attitudes student nurses carry about sexuality. There is a critical shortage of education strategies to meet the needs of student nurses so that they will be comfortable and confident in providing sexual healthcare.

The relationship between the sexual care attitudes, beliefs and self-efficacy of nursing students and gender roles: A cross-sectional study

PURPOSE

The aim of the research is to determine the relationship between the gender role approaches and the sexual care attitudes, beliefs, and self-efficacy of nursing students.

DESIGN AND METHODS

This cross-sectional study included 109 nursing students.

FINDINGS

A negative correlation was found between the Gender Roles Attitude Scale and the Sexual Attitudes and Beliefs Scale (p < 0.001). A positive correlation was found between the Gender Roles Attitude Scale and the self-efficacy in clinical performance scale total score and its assessment, diagnosis, planning, and implementation subscales (p < 0.05).

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

This study is considered to be useful to specify the education and awareness strategies that will contribute to better preparation of the nursing students for sexual health services.

Opinions and experiences of nursing students about evaluating the sexual health of individuals with mental disorders: A qualitative study

PURPOSE

To explore the views and experiences of nursing students about evaluating the sexual health of individuals with mental disorders.

DESIGN AND METHODS

A phenomenological approach was used. The purposeful sampling method gathered 11 nursing students. Data were collected in-depth interviews, which were analyzed using Colaizzi's method of data analysis.

FINDINGS

The findings were grouped under three themes: Barriers to sexual health evaluation, lack of supervision and knowledge, and increasing personal growth.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Barriers to sexual health evaluation need to be determined. Educators and clinicians should supervise students during clinical placement. Learning holistic care is an opportunity to increase personal growth.

By utilizing technology can nursing students gain more confidence and decrease anxiety when communicating with chronically ill patients about their sexual relationship?

INTRODUCTION

Effective communication is an essential part of nursing care. Nurses need to effectively communicate with patients, families, providers and staff. The purpose of this study was to show how the use of technology (i.e., video conferencing on an electronic device) could assist nursing students to gain more confidence and reduce anxiety when discussing difficult topics such as sexual intimacy.

METHODS

Pre-licensure nursing students were recruited to participate as part of regular class activities. A pre- and post-survey asking about their confidence and anxiety in communicating with patients was completed; then subjects were randomly placed into groups of 4 to 5 utilizing an electronic device. Student groups were able to communicate with a patient diagnosed with a medical condition that affected their intimacy by video conferencing in a breakout session for 15-20 min.

RESULTS

A total of 112 students participated. The majority of students stated that communicating about relationships and intimacy issues with chronically ill patients was not as difficult as they anticipated. About 82% of students liked using a video conferencing tool although about half (n = 62) reported they still preferred a face-to-face in-person interaction. Results demonstrated a significant increase in confidence and decrease in anxiety score (p = .001) before and after the intimacy communication activity.

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, the use of technology can be an effective learning tool to teach pre-licensure nursing students on how to communicate with patients effectively, especially for those difficult topics such as sexual intimacy.

Sexual myths and attitudes regarding sexuality of nursing students: A mixed method study

PURPOSE

To determine the nursing students' sexual myths and attitudes regarding sexuality, and to explore their views towards sexual care in practice.

DESIGN AND METHODS

A mixed-method sequential explanatory design was used. Data were collected using Questionnaire Form, Sexual Myths Scale (SMS), Sexual Attitude and Beliefs Scale (SABS), and Focus-Group Interview Form.

FINDINGS

The average scores on the SMS and the SABS were 58.66 ± 18.74 and 37.50 ± 6.97, respectively, indicating students' sexual myths and their attitudes regarding sexuality were moderate. A positive, significant correlation was found between SMS and SABS scores (p < 0.001). In the interviews, the views on the barriers and facilitators in sexual care and the negative effect of sexual myths on sexual care were revealed.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Courses regarding sexuality should include into nursing curriculum from the first years of undergraduate education.

Sexuality Attitudes and Beliefs Survey (SABS): Validation of the Instrument for the Spanish Nursing Students

Patient sexuality is a fundamental subject in nursing student’s education. However, beliefs about patient sexuality can influence the care offered. The aim of this psychometric study was to describe the validation process and the psychometrics properties of the Sexuality Attitudes and Beliefs Survey (SABS) for Spanish nursing students. The convenience sample was 283 nursing students from a state university in Spain. Participants ranged from 18 to 30 years (M = 19.66; SD = 1.85). Data collection happened in 2019–2020. The translation, back translation and adaptation to Spanish was discussed and refined, ensuring the semantic, idiomatic and conceptual meaning of the items. The psychometric properties were assessed through analysis of validity and reliability. The Cronbach’s alpha for the final version of 12 items was 0.65. Although it has low reliability, the Spanish version of the SABS seems to be a valid and useful tool to measure nursing students’ beliefs about patient sexuality. In addition, it can be a resource for the assessment of the ability of Spanish nursing faculty in engaging topics involving the student’s vision of patient sexuality.