Nursing and medical students' sexual attitudes and knowledge. Curricular implications.

Sexual attitudes and knowledge of graduate nursing students were compared with those of sophomore medical students in a large, urban Midwestern university and also with the national normative values for nonmedical graduate students. The Sex Knowledge and Attitude Test (SKAT) was used to collect data. Graduate nursing students did not differ significantly in the attitude and knowledge of human sexuality when compared with sophomore medical students. Graduate nonmedical students were not significantly more knowledgeable, but were significantly more tolerant toward human sexuality than sophomore medical students and graduate nursing students. The fundamental implication is the need for more constructive education in human sexuality as a planned part of the nursing curricula.