Assessing Clients’ Sexual Health as a Component of Holistic Nursing Practice

Abstract

A phenomenological study was conducted to investigate baccalaureate nursing students’ experiences with assessing the sexual health of their clients. The participants were 10 female nursing students. The participants were asked to respond to the statement: Tell me about your experiences with assessing your clients’ sexual health and concerns. Data were analyzed using Van Manen’s criteria for analysis. The common themes were (a) recognized sexual assessment as a component of holistic nursing, (b) experienced discomfort exploring clients’ sexual health, (c) believed that sexual assessment was warranted only if related to the diagnosis, and (d) held that the assessment was less important than other assessments. Information from this study has potential to inform nurse educators engaged in clinical teaching and curriculum development that sexual health assessment must be valued as a study area if holistic nursing care is to be a part of professional nursing practice.