Opinions of Student Nurses on Sexual Myths; A Phenomenological Study

Abstract

Student nurses should be aware of their sexual myths to be able to offer holistic nursing care to their patients. The aim of this study is to determine the opinions of student nurses about sexuality and sexual myths. The study population included fourth-year student nurses of a nursing department of a university (N = 160). The purposeful sampling method was used to explore the sexual myths of the student nurses. The study sample consisted of 31 student nurses. Data were collected by asking the participants a total of three questions in the individual in-depth interview form. After transcribing the audio-recorded interviews, the transcripts were combined with observation notes and then raw data were processed in computer. Finally, a content analysis was performed. As a result of the content analysis, two main themes with 13 subthemes emerged in the study: “Thoughts/Judgments About Sexuality” and “Thoughts/Judgments About Sexual Myths”. The student nurses stated that sexuality is seen as a taboo subject in the society they live in, there should be no sexual activity in old age, and they had difficulty in explaining what sexual myths mean. Also, the participants stated they thought that only men can masturbate, but married individuals and women should not masturbate, and watching pornographic films is wrong behavior. This paper is crucial to determine student nurses’ level of awareness of their own sexual myths and those in their own society and to determine their opinions and thoughts on sexual myths.