Project Director

Kemplin, Katharine

Department Examiner

Owsley, Natalie

Department

Dept. of Nursing

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

Sexual health is an important yet often neglected component of patient care. Most research on sexual health assessment and its place in nursing occurred from the 1970s to the early 2000s, leaving a gap in understanding nurses’ current attitudes and beliefs toward assessing patients’ sexual health. Frequencies by which sexual health assessments (SHA) are performed by nurses today is also unknown. The objective of this study was to provide an updated understanding of attitudes, beliefs, and practices of nurses regarding SHA. An online-based Likert-scale survey was administered via social media platforms for professional nurses to complete. Results indicate that nurses are comfortable and confident in performing sexual health assessments and that most participants (N =140) believe sexual health is a nursing responsibility. However, results also indicate that nurses’ frequency of performing SHA is less than it should be and additional training or education is needed to address this disparity. Statistically significant differences in participants’ comfort, confidence, and frequency (p < .05) with SHA were demarcated based on their reported generational group, clinical specialty, professional role, gender, and education level. Based on these preliminary results, it was concluded that additional studies are needed to address barriers to assessing sexual health and incorporating this component of health into patients’ plans of care.

Acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge Dr. Katharine Kemplin and Professor Natalie Owsley for all of their guidance, support, and encouragement throughout this process. This achievement would not have been possible without your help and I greatly appreciate all of the time, patience, and expertise you both allocated to my thesis. I would also like to express my gratitude to my family and friends who have supported me during this journey. I am so grateful for this experience and the opportunity to publish and present my research.

IRB Number

19-082

Degree

B. S. N.; An honors thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

Date

5-2020

Subject

Sexual health; Medical personnel and patient; Communication in medicine

Keyword

Nurses; Sexual health assessment; Nursing attitudes and beliefs; Frequency of sexual health assessment; Barriers to sexual health assessment

Discipline

Nursing

Document Type

Theses

Extent

41 leaves

DCMI Type

Text

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Date Available

11-12-2019

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Nursing Commons

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