Talking About Sexuality With Consumers of Mental Health Services

Abstract

PURPOSE: To explore nurses' perceptions of how consumers of mental health services have responded to mental health nurses discussing sexuality with them. DESIGN AND METHODS: Qualitative exploratory design including in‐depth individual interviews with 14 mental health nurses in Australia on two occasions. Nurse participants were taught the BETTER model in the first interview and were asked to use this in their practice. FINDINGS: In the second interview nurse participants described the model as useful and consumer responses as very positive. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The findings suggest the BETTER model is a simple and effective intervention that can assist mental health nurses to include sexuality as part of nursing care.

The 5-As Framework for Including Sexual Concerns in Mental Health Nursing Practice

“…Applying refers to nurses including sexual concerns in their assessment and care as part of their ongoing practice and beginning to value the importance of both this area of care for consumers and their role in providing this care (Quinn & Happell, 2012a, 2012bQuinn, Happell, & Welch, in press). These skills require practice (Gianotten, Bender, Post, & Hoing, 2006).…”

“…The participants came to value the importance of sex for consumers. This led to sexual concerns becoming embedded in their professional practice, increasing their confidence in addressing this important aspect of care (Quinn & Happell, 2012). Ultimately human sexuality was acknowledged as part of their practice, an important component of holistic care (Albaugh & Kellog-Spadt, 2003).…”

Relationship Between the Knowledge, Attitude, and Self-Efficacy on Sexual Health Care for Nursing Students

“…Saunamaki et al (2010) found that although nurses felt comfortable talking about patients' sexual matters and are responsible of providing sexual health care, they still did not have confidence in their ability to deal with patients' sexual concerns. Therefore, to improve trend in provision of sexual health care, educational curricula should pay more attention to educational strategies, such as role-play opportunities (Steinke, Mosack, Barnason, & Wright, 2011) and the practice of the intervention model as guidance for sexual health care (Quinn & Happell, 2013) that can result in a positive and active attitude and self-confidence toward discussing sexual matters and providing sexual health care to patients rather than just an attitude of respect and acceptance. Individual competencies and perception of self-efficacy on sexuality could be constantly modified by environmental conditions (Hogben & Byrne, 1998), and variations in nursing practice could affect nursing students' experiences about performing sexual health care to patients (Johnston, 2009).…”

The impact of severe mental disorders and psychotropic medications on sexual health and its implications for clinical management

“…Recent developments in the field include recognition of the beneficial effects of a healthy sexual life in patients with severe mental disorders; the need to incorporate this aspect in assessment and management within routine clinical practice 1 ; a more in-depth understanding of the adverse effects of psychotropic drugs on sexual life; and more detailed guidelines about how to manage sexual dysfunction in these already deeply disadvantaged people.…”