Patient's sexual health: do we care enough?

It is well documented that sexual problems often accompany chronic health conditions, for example: chronic renal failure, hypertension and diabetes mellitus. One of the responsibilities of a nurse is to provide patients with information concerning their health and treatment to achieve optimum outcomes, thus enhancing patients' quality of life. However, the authors observed that the nursing clinical pathways in their practice seldom reflect the attention given to patient's sexuality. This paper aims to confirm the hypothesis that health professionals do not give sufficient care to patient's sexual health and to define the causes. A descriptive study consisted of close-ended questionnaire was employed. The medical and nursing staff of a Nephrology Department were included in the study (92.6% response rate). Professionals' opinions on the importance of patient's sexual health, difficulty in addressing this issue and attitude were explored. Staff's opinion on the importance of patient's sexual health is moderately high. However, 86% admit that they do not give sufficient attention and 92% never initiate to address sexual issues to patients. The results reveal the impediment being in relation to awkwardness and deficient sex education in dealing with this subject. Some staff have expressed other deterring factors. This study confirms that professionals do not render sufficient care to patient's sexual health due to their conservative attitude and lack of skill in addressing sexuality. The authors therefore suggest some ways in helping to bridge this gap.