Experiences and opinions of nurses working in psychiatric wards on assessing patients' sexual health: A qualitative study

Effectiveness of a Sexual Health Care Training to Enhance Psychiatric Nurses' Knowledge, Attitude, and Self-Efficacy: A Quasi-Experimental Study in Southern Taiwan

BACKGROUND

Sexual health is a taboo issue in some societies. Limited assessments were conducted during nursing care in mental health services. It is unknown whether psychiatric nurses' competencies would be enhanced through short training courses.

AIMS

The present study employed a quasi-experimental design to evaluate the effectiveness of an 8-hour sexual health care training for psychiatric nurses to improve sexual health knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy in a teaching psychiatric hospital in southern Taiwan.

METHOD

Volunteered psychiatric nurses were randomly assigned to the experimental or control group. The 8-hour training program contained sexual health knowledge and attitudes, case discussion, role play, and sexual identity or harassment issues. Each nurse received a pretest and a posttest in the 1-month period between August and September 2019. Descriptive and multivariate statistical analyses were used to evaluate the effects.

RESULTS

Among the 75 psychiatric nurses, 43 were in the control group and 32 were in the experimental group. The two groups were not significantly different in the working year, gender, education, marriage, and other psychosocial variables. After the training, the overall performance of sexual health care knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy of the experimental group improved significantly than the controls.

CONCLUSIONS

The sexual health care training program enhanced psychiatric nurses' confidence and generally improved their sexual knowledge and attitudes. It is suggested that sexual health care needs to be highlighted during in-job training to augment the well-being and life quality of psychiatric patients.

A qualitative exploration of Ugandan mental health care workers’ perspectives and experiences on sexual and reproductive health of people living with mental illness in Uganda

Background

People with Mental Illness experience vast sexual and reproductive health challenges due to the affected mental health. Globally, prevalence of mental illness is on the rise with subsequent increase in the number of people with sexual and reproductive challenges warranting urgent public health intervention. However, information on the perceptions and experiences of mental health workers, the key health care providers for this population is generally lacking yet it’s essential for formulation of appropriate policies and public health interventions.

Aim

To explore Ugandan mental health care worker’s perspectives and experiences on the sexual and reproductive health of people living with mental illness in Uganda in order to generate recommendations to the ministry of health on how it can be improved.

Materials and methods

Qualitative study design was employed with utilization of phone call semi-structured in-depth interviews to collect data from 14 mental health workers from Uganda’s National mental referral hospital, Butabika. Purposive sampling and convenience recruitment was done and the collected data was analyzed using Thematic content analysis.

Results

Four themes were generated which included people with Mental illness having normal sexual needs, mental illness effect on sexuality and relationships, practices for safeguarding sexuality of people with mental illness and the barriers encountered in the provision of sexual and reproductive health services at a mental hospital.

Conclusion

People with mental illness experience a multitude of sexual and reproductive health challenges that need public health interventions. However, the integration of sexual and reproductive health services in a mental hospital are not yet successful making people with mental illness to remain with unaddressed health challenges. Policies should therefore be developed and implemented to ensure successful integration of sexual and reproductive health at all mental health service care provision points.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-022-14128-2.

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.