Discussing sexual concerns with health care professionals: positive attitudes in healthy subjects.
Sexuality is an important part of human health and should be addressed in numerous aspects of nursing care. Many nurses have difficulty providing patients with care in the area of sexuality, however, and usually do not address sexual concerns unless the patient asks specific questions. This study explored the attitudes of healthy individuals toward physicians and nurses discussing sexual concerns with clients. Most subjects thought discussing sexual concerns with nurses was appropriate, and all subjects thought that physicians should discuss sexual concerns with clients. Regression analyses indicated that attitudes were not influenced by variables such as age, gender, or marital status. These findings suggest that nurses can feel comfortable addressing sexuality with many more of their clients and that when unsure about discussing sexuality with clients, nurses should refer clients to their physicians.
Waterhouse
J
J
D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016018:Least-Squares Analysis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D012731:Sex Counseling; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires