Systematic Review of Sexual and Reproductive Health Care Content in Nursing Curricula

To examine whether and to what extent pre-licensure nursing programs include sexual and reproductive health (SRH) content in their curricula.

Electronic databases, including CINAHL, MEDLINE, PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct, Google Scholar, ProQuest, and CAB Direct were searched for relevant literature. We also reviewed the reference lists of all studies, nursing organization Web sites, and the personal files of the authors.

Inclusion criteria were studies focused on SRH content in pre-licensure nursing education, written in English, and published between January 1990 and November 2016. We identified 632 articles, and of these, 22 met the inclusion criteria. Duplicates were discarded, and 13 articles were reviewed (9 quantitative descriptive, 2 modified Delphi, 2 mixed methods).

Data extraction and subsequent analysis were guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Data were extracted and organized under the following headings: author and year to establish a historical timeline, study purpose and design, sample size, data collection methods, main study findings, and limitations.

We found the following: (a) most studies focused on baccalaureate education; if associated degree programs were reviewed, findings were not reported separately; (b) definitions were not consistent, which affected the scope of study results; (c) the SRH topics taught were similar; (d) there is a recent interest in sexual orientation and gender identity curriculum; (e) barriers to including content were time constraints, competing demands with other curriculum priorities, and a need for creative curriculum tools.

Documentation of SRH content in pre-licensure nursing education is limited. Faculty should conduct ongoing evaluation of their curricular strategies and clinical experiences and publish results in the literature.