A Study On Nurses’ Knowledge And Attitude Towards The Sexual Behavior Of The Elderly

Objective:This study aims to investigate nurses’ attitude and knowledge of sexual behavior among the elderly and analyze the correlation between them,meanwhile,to explore the factors influencing nurses’ attitude towards sexual behavior of the elderly.To deeply understand the cognition and attitude of nurses on the sexual behavior of the aged,and to explore the factors restricting nurses’ attention to the sexual health of the elderly,and to provide a theoretical basis for further intervention to the nurses in the sexual knowledge of the elderly.Methods:Part one :Totally 325 clinical nurses from three general hospitals in Yuzhong District of Chongqing were investigated by the Chinese version of the sexual knowledge attitude scale for the elderly.Then the results underwent statistical analysis.Part two: Collecting data by means of objective sampling and semistructured in-depth interviews.An in-depth interview was conducted on nurses of one old-age care institutions in Chongqing.The sample size of the study repeats the data of the interviewees,and the analysis of the data no longer presents new topics as the standard.Data were analyzed by the Colaizzi7 steps of phenomenological data analysis.Results: Part one: The aging sexual knowledge score was 14.56±7.35,89 were high score group(27.4%),and 96 were low score group(29.5%);the aging sexual attitude score was 117.81±14.27,there are account for 82.5% nurses had a more positive attitude toward sexual activity in the elderly.The influencing factors of attitude scale included educational level,working years,gender,work department,get along with older relatives frequently(all p<0.05).Part two: Eighteen nurses were interviewed,of whom 2 were men and 16 were women.The data reached saturation.Data were analyzed by the Colaizzi 7 steps of phenomenological data analysis.The themes are summarized as follows:(1)Nurses have different perceptions of sexual behavior in the elderly,including sexual behavior of elderly cognition narrow and the rationality of elderly demand;(2)The attitude towards sexual behavior of the elderly is conservative,mainly in terms of responsibility,safety and privacy;(3)Conservative social culture 、lacking of institutional and national policies and lacking of personal sexual knowledge of the elderly are the main factors that hinder nurses from paying attention to sexual health of the elderly.Conclusion:(1)The attitude toward sexual behavior of the elderly tend to be positive among nurses,but compared with similar studies abroad,the attitude was more conservative;at the same time,the knowledge about the sexual behavior of the elderly is not enough.Nursing managers should strengthen the continuing education of nurses,improve the level of sexual knowledge of the elderly,meanwhile,expand knowledge about sexual physiology,sexual psychology,sexual morality of aging,cultivate positive attitudes towards sexual behavior in the elderly actively.(2)The factors influencing nurses’ attention to the sexual health of the elderly include social culture,organization,and personal factors.Therefore,schools,hospitals and old-age care institutions should strengthen the professional education on the elderly sexual knowledge of nursing staff,and improve their level of geriatric sexual knowledge,and actively build the elderly sexual health care team,in order to provide professional help for the elderly.At the same time,social media should give positive guidance to the sexual expression of the elderly.