Sexuality Nursing Essay

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Patient sexuality has been recognized as an important domain for nursing practice and a priority for research by many specialty organizations (American Nurses Association [ANA], 2004; Gordon, Sawin, & Basta, 1996; Kim & Moritz, 1982). Research has shown that many nurses believe sexuality assessment, evaluation, and counseling should be considered a part of their professional role (Cort, Attenborough, & Watson, 2001; Shuman & Bohachick, 1987; Wilson & Williams, 1988). Still, nurses have had difficulty integrating this awareness into their patient care (Cort et al., 2001; Krueger et al., 1979; Shuman & Bohachick, 1987; Webb, 1987). A number of barriers exist to incorporating consideration of patient sexuality into nursing practice, including personal, institutional, and patient-related factors (White, 2002). Personal factors, such as nurses' attitudes about sexuality and sexual behavior, have been studied more extensively than the institutional and patient-related factors that may limit consideration of a patient's sexual concerns.
Historically, the study of nurses' attitudes toward sexuality has been both sporadic and sparse. Over the last 3 decades, research has proceeded along two distinct lines of inquiry. One has focused on describing attitudes about specific sexual behaviors (for example, masturbation, homosexuality, premarital and extramarital sex) (Fisher & Levin, 1983; Lewis & Bor, 1994; Payne, 1976; Shuman & Bohachick, 1987; Webb, 1988). This line of inquiry often culminates in the classification of nurses as liberal or conservative in their views about specific sex-related behaviors. A second line of inquiry has focused on identifying and describing the more general predispositions, such as comfort and confidence, that might influence the nurse's openness to dealing with patient sexuality (Cort et al., 2001; Kautz, Dickey, & Stevens, 1990; Williams, Wilson,
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