Nursing students face educational, cultural, and systemic barriers that complicate sexual health care in psychiatric settings, and targeted educational programs and institutional support are needed to better prepare students for sexual health discussions in clinical practice.
Key Findings
Results
Four major themes emerged from nursing students' experiences providing sexual health care to psychiatric patients: inclusion of sexuality in the clinical process, the empowering role of education, uncertainty in sexual care, and systemic invisibility.
Study used a descriptive qualitative design with thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews.
28 undergraduate nursing students enrolled in a psychiatric nursing course in Sakarya, Turkey participated.
Each student assessed the sexual health of individuals with psychiatric disorders during actual clinical practice.
Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed thematically, yielding four overarching themes.
Results
Facilitators of comprehensive sexual health assessment included recognizing diagnosis-related changes in sexual desire and understanding sexuality's role in psychological well-being.
Students identified that recognizing how psychiatric diagnoses affect sexual desire helped them incorporate sexual health into clinical assessments.
Understanding the connection between sexuality and psychological well-being served as a motivating factor for students to address sexual health.
These facilitators were captured under the theme 'inclusion of sexuality in the clinical process.'
Results
Education that strengthened communication skills and confidence was identified as a key facilitator for nursing students providing sexual health care to psychiatric patients.
Students reported that receiving relevant education empowered them to engage with sexual health topics in clinical settings.
Enhanced communication skills were specifically noted as an outcome of education that facilitated sexual health discussions.
This facilitating factor was captured under the theme 'the empowering role of education.'
Results
Conflicts between personal values and professional roles were identified as a barrier to nursing students providing sexual health care in psychiatric settings.
Students experienced tension when their personal values did not align with the professional expectation to address sexual health.
This barrier was categorized under the theme 'uncertainty in sexual care.'
Discomfort and potential misunderstandings in gender-based interactions also contributed to uncertainty in providing sexual care.
Results
Cultural norms surrounding sexuality constituted a significant barrier for nursing students attempting to provide sexual health care to psychiatric patients.
The study was conducted in Turkey, and cultural norms specific to that context were identified as restricting sexual health discussions.
Cultural barriers were identified alongside personal value conflicts under the theme 'uncertainty in sexual care.'
Cultural sensitivity was identified as a necessary component of recommended educational content to address this barrier.
Results
Systemic barriers, including lack of counseling resources, absence of standardized care plans, and insufficient privacy in psychiatric settings, hindered students' provision of sexual health care.
These barriers were grouped under the theme 'systemic invisibility,' suggesting that sexual health care is structurally marginalized in psychiatric settings.
Lack of counseling resources was specifically named as a systemic gap.
Insufficient privacy in psychiatric ward environments was identified as a practical structural barrier to conducting sexual health assessments.
The absence of standardized care plans for sexual health left students without institutional guidance.
Background
The study found that sexual health integration into psychiatric nursing practice remains limited, particularly among nursing students.
The study sample consisted of 28 undergraduate nursing students in a psychiatric nursing course.
Students faced a combination of educational, cultural, and systemic barriers specific to psychiatric clinical contexts.
The authors noted that understanding how students approach sexual health in psychiatric settings is crucial for improving education and care quality.
Conclusions
The authors concluded that targeted educational programs addressing privacy, ethics, boundaries, and cultural sensitivity, supported by practice-based learning, are needed to prepare nursing students for sexual health discussions in psychiatric clinical practice.
Recommended educational content specifically includes privacy, ethics, boundaries, and cultural sensitivity.
Practice-based learning was highlighted as an important pedagogical approach alongside didactic content.
Institutional support was identified as necessary alongside educational reforms.
The recommendations were grounded in the four barrier and facilitator themes identified through thematic analysis.
What This Means
This research suggests that nursing students in psychiatric clinical settings face a complex mix of personal, cultural, and institutional challenges when it comes to addressing the sexual health needs of patients with psychiatric disorders. A study of 28 nursing students in Turkey found that while students were helped by understanding how psychiatric diagnoses affect sexuality and by receiving education that built their communication confidence, they were held back by conflicts between their own values and their professional duties, discomfort in cross-gender interactions, cultural taboos around discussing sex, and a lack of institutional tools such as private spaces, counseling resources, and standardized care guidelines. These findings suggest that sexual health is largely invisible in psychiatric nursing practice, both educationally and systemically.
This research suggests that to improve the quality of holistic care for people with psychiatric disorders, nursing education programs need to specifically prepare students to navigate these barriers. Recommended improvements include curriculum content focused on ethics, privacy, professional boundaries, and cultural sensitivity, combined with hands-on practice opportunities so that students can build real-world skills in discussing sexual health with patients. Institutional changes—such as creating private spaces for assessments and developing standardized care plans for sexual health—are also identified as important.
This research matters because sexual health is a recognized component of overall well-being, and people with psychiatric disorders may face particular challenges in this area due to both their conditions and the side effects of medications. When healthcare providers—including student nurses—lack the training or systemic support to address sexual health, patients may not receive complete care. The findings point to a gap between the holistic ideals of nursing education and what students are actually prepared to do in psychiatric clinical practice.
Koroglu Gokbel S, Durat G. (2026). Nursing Students' Perceptions of Barriers and Facilitators in Providing Sexual Health Care to Psychiatric Patients: A Descriptive Qualitative Study.. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association. https://doi.org/10.1177/10783903251408459