Taking responsibility for sexual health curricula content: A national study of Israeli nursing faculty

Abstract

Background: Little is known about sexual health education for nursing practice that nursing students receive in their undergraduate curricula.

Objectives: This study examined nursing curricula for sexual health content and the context in which it was taught. Faculty's professional background, attitudes, perceived barriers, and facilitators were examined.

Methods: A mixed-methods national cross-sectional study was conducted. All Israel's nursing school directors were approached (n = 27) with a 51.8 % response rate.

Results: All participants (100 %) reported positive attitudes (M = 4.5, SD = 0.51) toward integrating sexual health content into nursing practice curricula; however, the general perception of most nursing schools (79.6 %) was that nursing students received insufficient preparation to deal with patient sexual concerns. Sexual health assessment was integrated into academic curricula only in two nursing schools (n = 2), with no school including clinical competencies for sexual health in their clinical practice (0 %). According to the results of the qualitative analysis, education, including faculty education and student curriculum, and comfort were identified as facilitators for the inclusion of sexual health content into nursing curricula. In contrast, discomfort, education, and cultural issues were described as barriers.

Conclusion: Comprehensive sexual health education is mandatory content for nursing practice. The lack of sexual health content in the nursing curricula may limit the student's ability to assess the patient's sexual health in professional practice. Therefore, regulatory organizations in nursing education need to include this competency as a mandatory component of nursing education content.

Keywords: Nursing curricula; Nursing practice; Sexual health; Sexual health assessment; Sexual health education; Undergraduate nursing education.