The emancipatory potential of nursing practice in relation to sexuality: a systematic literature review of nursing research 2009-2014

Nursing interventions for sexual dysfunction: An integrative review for the psychiatric nurse

Sexual dysfunctions are prevalent disorders in psychiatric patients that too often are not addressed by psychiatric-mental health nurses. An integrative review was conducted using PubMed, Joanna Briggs Institute, SCOPUS, PsycINFO and CINAHL databases to evaluate the evidence for independent, nursing interventions for sexual dysfunction across all nursing literature that could be implemented by psychiatric-mental health nurses. Out of 2448 articles, nine papers met inclusion criteria and were synthesized. Best available evidence was found for sexual teaching interventions for female sexual dysfunction. The implications for psychiatric-mental health nursing practice and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Mediated pathways, negotiated identities: a critical phenomenological analysis of the experience of sexuality in the context of intellectual disability

Questions of sexuality and intellectual disability have now moved beyond the institutional era, and contemporary sexual health interventions have gradually been reconfigured in terms of social participation, partnership and normalising approaches. That being said, they also appear to be part of a complex negotiation process between support systems for individuals identified as having an intellectual disability. The aim of this study was to provide a better understanding of the experience of affective (sentimental and emotional) and sexual (identity and value-mediated) expression in the context of intellectual disability, as well as related factors of influence. Inspired by a critical theoretical framework and a phenomenological methodology, this research shows that these experiences are part of a negotiation process that is simultaneously systemic and intimate. It is systemic because it responds to knowledge systems specific to intellectual disability and sexuality, thus authorising a variety of interventions focused on normalising the individual. It is also intimate because these practices involve every axis of affective existence, from inhabiting restrictive spaces to reconfiguring people’s intimate relationships with themselves and others. Through these findings, nursing’s ability to recognise and advocate for this group’s sexual needs and rights is called into question.

[Sexual health and intellectual disability: a narrative literature review and its implications for nursing practice.]

Issues associated with affectivity and sexuality in the context of intellectual disability have recently been the subject of various interdisciplinary discussions in academia. In nursing, interventions in sexual health are supported with hesitation and those issues constitute a marginal field of nursing research. A narrative literature review was realized in order to establish a portrait of the knowledge produced on this topic in the last decade. This paper illustrates three specific research areas recently developed, namely issues related to sexual autonomy, contextual factors positively or negatively contributing to emotional and sexual life, and the experiences of people identified as having an intellectual disability in this regard. On the basis of these results, different issues related to sexuality and intellectual disability are discussed, including those associated with the negotiation process of affective and sexual life, parenthood as a mediator of emotional and sexual expression, and the inclusiveness issues of sexual diversity in health interventions. Implications for nursing are finally discussed in light of the recent development of its role in sexual health.