Sexual health is always one of the reasons why patients are scared to see doctors or go to hospitals. Not everyone has the courage to get themselves checked regarding their sexual health.
Nevertheless, the nursing department is acknowledged and known to provide many kinds of contributions in the healthcare industry. Although they used to be seen as “doctors’ handmaidens’, they have recognized to be more professional and able to achieve higher levels of clinical expertise. You can even see the changes in having lesser junior doctors with getting more expertise for nurses, for there are so many advantages nurses can get these days. If you are thinking of pursuing your dreams of becoming a nurse, you are more than encouraged to do so as nowadays, nurses belong exclusively to the medical profession.
Thus, having more nurses handle patients in sexual health will be more helpful in so many ways, as well as encouraging more patients to come forward and not be afraid to get themselves checked at any hospital.
But before we go any deeper into it, I will talk about how nurses are trained in sexual health. If you would like to know, when you are going through pre-registration training for a nurse, it is not a mandatory education for you to learn anything relating to sexual health services. The nurses who are working under sexual health services basically went through working in the specialty and also by going through specialist post-registration courses. Because of that, many people who decided to be a nurse in their career pathway in sexual health were fragmented as well, with no success in the obvious planning. Over time, working as a nurse, you can practice like the same structure as doctors and learn the various aspects of sexual health. Of course, doctors hold a more important role in clinical expertise. But with a good reputation and clinical expertise as a nurse, and the acknowledgment from the managers, a nurse can be recommended for more enhanced roles in the hospitals, such as sexual health services.
Once nurses are being acknowledged and being put under sexual health services, there are a few things they can help patients and society with, such as:
Managing Patients With Sexual Health Problems In The Hospitals
Like I have mentioned in the previous paragraph, only some nurses who have been acknowledged for their clinical expertise are able to manage patients with sexual health problems, as there are different types of infections diagnosed by doctors for patients with sexual health problems.
Some of the sexual health problems including:
Female Genital Problems and Injuries
Some women may experience minor vaginal problems and that can be related to menstrual cycles, sex, infection, birth controls, changes after pregnancy, and other kinds of problems.
Male Genital Problems and Injuries
Meanwhile, male genital problems can easily occur because the scrotum and penis are mainly not protected by bones, and you might get during sports or any recreational activities, work-related tasks such as irritating chemicals, falls, and sexual activity.
Sexually Transmitted Infections
Sexual Transmitted Infections (STIs) are one of the common infections that is widespread in the United States and the world. This infection can literally affect both men and women, commonly occurring in people younger than 25 years old.
School Nurse Sharing Sex Education With The Societies
Based on the conducted interview from 12 Massachusetts high schools, school nurses shared how they could not perform a formal preparation in managing sexual health issues, but they do informal private sessions with the students. They also mentioned that students require basic knowledge about sexual health information as the students are growing and they are curious regarding sexual activities among their friends. Having basic knowledge enables students to be more careful especially in practicing safe sexual activities and using adult toys with their partners. Some students actually have purchased and can be purchase in any online stores such as Online Sex Toy Malaysia or any adult sex toy Malaysia that provides international shipping around the world. Thus, it is very important if they know the importance of how to use it and not sharing it with multiple people to avoid infections.
Protecting The Health Of Sex Workers
The health of sex workers is often being ignored by the government as for most countries, sex workers are seen as illegal and inappropriate, that this mentality has been normalized in the society for decades. But there are certain people in our society that uses the services from these sex workers and have normal sexual activity with other people as well, which can lead to infections as well, such as AIDS, HIV, and so much more. Hence, some hospitals actually allow their nurses to help and protect the health of the sex workers by encouraging them to get checked at the hospitals and offer them free tests. This could give them insights into their well-being, as well as providing basic information about STIs, any infections caused by random sexual activities.
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Although many people take their sexual health very lightly, it is not something small to be taking advantage of. We honestly should be thankful for the existence of the nurses and our front-liners who would go through miles to make sure that our health is in good condition.