How do nurses and midwives perceive their role in sexual healthcare?

Sexuality attitudes and beliefs survey (SABS): validation of the instrument for the polish nursing and midwifery students

The aim of the study is to create a Polish version of the sexuality attitudes and beliefs survey (SABS), to assess its cultural adaptation and psychometric properties and to utilize it to enable a cross-sectional study of the sexual attitudes and beliefs among Poland's nursing and midwifery students. Non-random network sampling and the adapted SABS v. PL scale were employed for the latter purpose. A total of 570 nursing and midwifery students from two Polish universities completed the questionnaire. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was utilized to measure the internal consistency of the SABS scale, while exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was employed to determine its construct validity. The factors that most affect respondents' sexual attitudes and beliefs were identified through a stepwise multiple regression method and through an econometric model. An exploratory factor analysis of the SABS v. PL scale revealed an adequate fit and confirmed the 4-factor model. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for SABS v. PL amounted to: α = 0.66. The study's student population had a mean SABS score of 41.65 ± 5.63, while the mean SABS item score varied between 2.55 ± 1.27 and 4.35 ± 1.07. The study's results show that the SABS v. PL questionnaire is a valid and reliable instrument. The work revealed that Polish nursing and midwifery students have attitudes and beliefs which negatively impact their ability to evaluate a person's sexual health concerns and provide relevant health counselling.

Nurses' knowledge, attitudes, and practices about rehabilitation of patients after heart valve surgery in Namibia

Background

A cardiac rehabilitation programme is a medically supervised intervention to assist patients in recovery after heart surgeries and to prevent potential complications. Nurses should have the knowledge, a positive attitudes, and good practices to improve patient quality of life during the recovery process.

Aim

This study aimed to describe the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the nurses regarding cardiac rehabilitation for patients after heart valve surgery.

Setting

The study setting was Windhoek Central Hospital, Cardiac Unit, in Windhoek, Namibia.

Methods

A quantitative and descriptive research design was used for convenient non-probability sampling of (N = 23) nurses who consented to participate in the study. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaires and analyzed using SPSS Version 26. Descriptive statistics were used and Fischer's Exact test for associations of variables was performed.

Results

The study results showed a high level of knowledge, good attitudes, and poor to fair practices toward cardiac rehabilitation. However, the respondents demonstrate a lack of knowledge about the indications, and benefits of cardiac rehabilitation, negative attitudes regarding counselling of patients on sexual activities, and poor practice regarding exercises and counseling of patients and caregivers on cardiac rehabilitation. Furthermore, there is a positive relationship between the respondents' older age, senior rank, and having been trained I cardiac conditions and their knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding some core components of cardiac rehabilitation with P-value < 0.050.

Conclusion

There is a need for a cardiac rehabilitation programme to improve nurses' attitudes and practices toward cardiac rehabilitation.

Contribution

Understanding the gap in knowledge, attitudes, and practices among the nurses regarding cardiac rehabilitation would guide the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) in the implementation of the cardiac rehabilitation for patients after heart valve surgery.

Nursing students' perceived attitudes toward addressing sexual health in their future profession: A longitudinal quantitative study

BACKGROUND

Sexual health is a necessary component of human wellbeing. Nurses espouse holistic care but in practice often overlook a person's sexual health. Disparities linked to sexual health persist nationally and globally, including those among gender and sexual minorities. Inconsistent sexual health curriculum in nurse education in the United States has led to gaps in learning. This study aimed to understand nursing students' attitudes toward addressing sexual health issues in their future profession during an Associate of Science in Nursing program in the United States.

METHODS

A convenience sample of Associate of Science in Nursing students from a university voluntarily participated in this longitudinal quantitative study. All eligible students enrolled in the first semester completed the Students' Attitudes Toward Addressing Sexual Health instrument. Summary statistics and Pearson r correlation were used to analyze the data.

RESULTS

The 159 students were relatively young, female, and White, non-Hispanic. The total score of students' attitudes toward addressing sexual health was 83.48, ranging from 41 to 109. Regarding the positively loaded items of the Students' Attitudes Toward Addressing Sexual Health, the results showed students believed they would have too much to do for handling sexual issues (M = 4.44), need to get basic knowledge about sexual health (M = 4.31), and take time to deal with patients' sexual issues (M = 4.24).

CONCLUSION

In this study, nursing students reported positive attitudes toward addressing sexual health in their future profession but acknowledged they would need basic education. Due to the homogeneity of participants' backgrounds, the generalizability of study results might be limited. It is suggested that nurse educators should develop an innovative curriculum for building students' competence and prepare graduates to deliver sexual health care for meeting a person's health needs.

The sexuality experience of stoma patients: a meta-ethnography of qualitative research

BACKGROUND

As the quality of life of stoma patients has become a research hotspot, sexual health as an integral part of patients' lives has received more and more attention. However, there is a lack of comprehensive reviews on the sexual experiences of patients with stomas. This study aims to synthesize the qualitative literature on the subjective experience of stoma patients' sexual life, to identify their sexual needs, and to provide evidence for the content and methods of sexual health interventions for healthcare professionals.

METHODS

PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, and Scopus were searched for qualitative studies on the sexual experience of stoma patients (from the inception to January 2023). Titles, abstracts, and full texts were reviewed by two researchers. We used the Critical Appraisal Program (CASP) checklist to assess the quality of included articles.

RESULTS

A total of 1388 articles were retrieved, and eight studies were included. Data was extracted, including three main themes: 1) sexual problems due to changes in physical function and psychological disorders; 2) the relationship with spouse changes; 3) the cognition of sexual life and the need for sexual knowledge.

CONCLUSION

Healthcare professionals should pay attention to the sexual life status and sexual health needs of stoma patients and their partners, and give professional guidance and support in treatment and nursing to improve the quality of sexual life of stoma patients.