Nurses’ attitudes, beliefs and practices on sexuality for cardiovascular care: A cross‐sectional study

Abstract

Aims and objectives To describe nurses’ attitudes, beliefs, and practices regarding sexuality care for patients with cardiovascular disease. Background Limited sexual activity is common among patients with cardiovascular disease, yet assessment of sexuality and counselling is frequently not undertaken by nurses. Design Cross‐sectional study. Methods This study recruited 268 cardiac nurses from seven tertiary hospitals in five cities of Henan province. The Sexual Attitudes and Beliefs Survey, along with investigator‐developed questions regarding practices and perceived barriers, was administered to the nurses. The STROBE checklist was used to ensure quality reporting during this observational study (see Supporting Information Data S1). Results The average age of nurses who participated was 31.81 years (SD = 7.41). The average score of Sexual Attitudes and Beliefs Survey was 47.72 (SD = 7.40), indicating moderate attitudinal barriers for nurses to discuss sexual activities with patients. Most nurses (91%) perceived that sexuality was too private to discuss with patients. Only 20% of nurses expressed that they would provide time to discuss sexual concerns with patients. Eighty per cent of nurses revealed that they felt uncomfortable discussing sexuality; moreover, they believed that hospitalised patients were too sick to be engaged in these types of conversations. Additionally, almost 85% of nurses conveyed that they have never conducted discussions regarding sexuality care in patients with cardiovascular disease. The most frequently reported perceived barriers preventing nurses from discussing sexual concerns included fear of offending patients (77.2%), uncertainty of how to communicate with patients (69.4%), feelings of embarrassment (67.5%), lack of safe and private environments (61.9%) and lack of knowledge (54.9%). Conclusion Nurses in this cross‐sectional sample rarely discussed sexual concerns with their patients. There were several key barriers identified by nurses regarding providing sexuality care, including personal attitudes and beliefs, limited skills and knowledge, culture and organizational‐related barriers. Relevance to clinical practice Targeted training for nurses and creating a culturally safe environment is recommended to improve management of sexuality in patients with CVD.

Determination of Nurses’ Attitudes and Beliefs on Sexual Care Towards Urology Patients

“…The results of the present study were found to be similar to the study that was conducted by Saunamäki et al (2010) in Sweden(5). Also, it was found that the results of the present study were lower than the results of the studies that were conducted in countries where eastern culture is dominant, such as China and Jordan (1,2,11). The results were found to be higher Fearing that patients might be offended/embarrass 88 74.6 than the results of the studies that were conducted in countries where western culture is dominant, such as America and Portugal (13,19).…”

“…Studies on sexuality show that patients are willing to tell their sexual problems to nurses; however, nurses cannot be efficient in sexual care both because their knowledge about sexuality is not adequate and their beliefs about sexual care. (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)beliefs, and practices regarding sexuality care for patients with cardiovascular disease. Background: Limited sexual activity is common among patients with cardiovascular disease, yet assessment of sexuality kıma ilişkin danışmanlık verirken kendilerini rahat hissetme puan ortalamalarının ise 10 üzerinden 4,32±2,63 (min:0 maks:10) olduğu saptanmıştır.…”

Acceptability of Health Professionals’ Address of Sexuality and Erectile Dysfunction - A Qualitative Interview Study with Men in Cardiac Rehabilitation

“… 29 , 30 , 34 Neither did shy men perceive HPs’ address of sexuality as annoying, bothersome or offensive, which is an important new finding because the fear of offending their patients is a well-known barrier for HPs in addressing sexuality. 14 , 15 , 60 Attending group sessions where HPs address sexuality could be a potentially emotional effort for some of the men; however, even the shyer men accepted the address of sexuality in group sessions by choosing to keep their head down. Thus, the shy men would never themselves initiate a conversation about sexuality and therefore it is of great importance that the HPs initiate communication on sexuality and ED, and how they address the topic, listen to and work with patients to create a comprehensive management plan regarding sexual problems.…”

“…13 Common barriers for HPs' address of sexuality and sexual issues such as ED are due to lack of HP education, competences and professionalism in the field of sexuality, or HPs' perception that addressing sexuality is embarrassing for patients, being too intimate, private and potentially offensive to discuss. [14][15][16][17][18] Furthermore, HPs' reason for not inquiring about sexual function and ED can be attributed to their impression of cardiac patients' lack of readiness and reluctance to bring up the subject. 14,18,19 .…”

“…[14][15][16][17][18] Furthermore, HPs' reason for not inquiring about sexual function and ED can be attributed to their impression of cardiac patients' lack of readiness and reluctance to bring up the subject. 14,18,19 . A biopsychosocial approach is significant in providing cardiac rehabilitation and addressing sexuality.…”