Nurses' experience of caring for men with sexual dysfunction in Jordan

Worldwide, sexual dysfunction is common among men regardless of age, ethnicity or cultural background therefore it is not unreasonable to assume such a problem exists within Jordan, despite the limited evidence available. This research examines the role of nurses in practice, nursing education and the impact of the Jordanian culture on the care of men with sexual dysfunction. The case study, using quantitative and qualitative mixed methods, questionnaires and semistructured interviews, explored in-depth the interplay of three key concepts: nurses' experiences, education and culture. Study instruments were translated, back-translated to establish semantic equivalence, then administered in Arabic or English (as preferred) to 462 nurses in the target population. Of these, 261 (58%) nurses completed the questionnaire, 17 of which agreed to take part in an interview. The findings identified that sexual health care and assessment for men was not an integral part of nursing practice with only 16 out of 261 nurses (6%) identifying having cared for and assessed the sexual health care needs of a male patient. Although, the majority of nurses (65%) recognised sexual health care was important for patients' health outcomes. Similar to other studies worldwide barriers to sexual health care included a lack of time to perform sexual health assessments due to a shortage of nurses and increased workload. However, both male and female nurses reported being openly discouraged by managers not to discuss sexual health with patients, even of the same sex, as this was culturally unacceptable. This was compounded by a medically dominated health profession, in which nurses identified a lack of autonomy to deliver sexual health care. Sexual dysfunction was perceived to be a hidden and unresolved problem within Jordan as a result of cultural and societal expectations, masculinity and perceived men's health beliefs, religious beliefs, lack of nursing confidentiality and trust. Only 30% of nurses felt equipped with the knowledge and skills to provide sexual health advice, with communication skills being identified as equally important. Nurses identified that gender based nursing education particularly for sensitive topics such as sexual health could definitely be delivered (either within the curriculum or through on-site specialist courses) to male and female nurses separately. The lack of sexual health care in nursing practice in Jordan could be an indicator of the low state of men's health services. In the context of improving men's sexual health a comprehensive strategy is necessary using education, awareness and developing appropriate gender sensitive health services congruent with the culture of Jordan.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo