It’s a multifaceted field that demands a unique blend of skills, knowledge, and character. This specialty encompasses a wide range of interventions, including patient education, STI testing and treatment, contraception, support for sexual health issues, and the promotion of public health and disease prevention.

I recently had the opportunity to visit Locala and spend time with their sexual health nursing team.

Locala has developed comprehensive pathways to support all nurses new to sexual health, including newly qualified nurses. These pathways guide nurses from Band 5 (or equivalent) to Band 6 (or equivalent), helping them undertake specialist qualifications such as the STI Foundation/British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) programme, and the Faculty of Sexual & Reproductive Health (FSRH) Diploma. The commitment to professional development doesn’t stop there; Locala continues to support further development and study.

I spoke to one of the Advanced Nurse Practitioners working in this field, who highlighted how valuable and beneficial training and support is.

Zac - Advanced Nurse Practitioner

I’m an Advanced Nurse Practitioner with an Integrated Sexual Health Service provider in West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester. My role is underpinned by the four pillars of advanced clinical practice: clinical practice, education, leadership and management, and research. To be able to condense my role into a paragraph would be impossible but essentially my role is multifaceted, incorporating a dynamic blend of contraception, genitourinary medicine, safeguarding and outreach activities. The settings are also highly variable - as the lead for the sexual health outreach service I go into patient homes, third-sector venues and on the clinical outreach bus to deliver equitable care in non-clinical settings.

In my teenage years I met a caring, charismatic and endearing nurse who made me think: “I want to do what she does!”. This was someone I admired, and I remember going home to my Grandma and telling her what I wanted to do. Her response was “whatever makes you happy, love” has stuck with me all this time later.

What is your favourite part of your job?

I get a great amount of job satisfaction from putting patients at ease. I have walked in their shoes, and I have had similar experiences to them. I recognise how privileged I am to be able to see, hear and treat people from all different backgrounds and walks of life. For instance, within a couple of hours I could have had a consultation with a commercial sex worker, a heterosexually identifying man who has sex with men and a child at risk of sexual exploitation all with their own experiences and sexual health needs.

What learning and development opportunities have you had?

Learning and development within my sexual health nursing role and career is continuous. Starting my career as a sexual health nurse, I studied the e-learning for healthcare modules and completing in-house competencies for clinical skills considered to be the bread-and-butter of a sexual health nurse such as male and female genital examination, microscopy skills and phlebotomy. I have completed courses led by the British Association of Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) including the Sexually Transmitted Infections Foundation (STIF) courses. I have undertaken cervical cytology training, completed the diploma of the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health (DFSRH) and furthered my skills in achieving letters of competence in subdermal implant and intrauterine techniques. I recently completed an apprenticeship in Advanced Clinical Practice with the University of Leeds.

The development is a different story; sexual health nursing is a role with many firsts. Many of which leave a lasting impression and have included my first safeguarding disclosure, first examination of a symptomatic patient, first HIV diagnosis, first disclosure of domestic abuse. Anxiety-inducing at times, my development from these events has been far-reaching and I absorbed learning from everything.

What key qualities do you need to be a sexual health nurse?

If you have the skills and qualities to be a nurse you can be a sexual health nurse, but I think you will need to consider:

Can you talk about sex to the public, patients and other professionals; You need friends, partner or family who will listen to you talking about everything related to your profession – talking about genital warts at the dinner table is almost commonplace now!; A weak constitution may need to be worked on; and finally, you need to be resilient and be able to challenge views that sexual infections and HIV are not dirty!

Although I jest a little, I would not want to deter anyone from choosing a career within sexual health. Everyone has transferrable qualities which would be welcomed within the profession.
From an outsider perspective sexual health nursing can often be overlooked as a career, often feeling like some secretive dark corner of nursing seldom experienced by trainee or newly qualified nurses.

If like me, you are passionate about sexual health and you consider a career as a sexual health nurse then my tips would be:

• Peruse the BASHH and FSRH websites
• E-learning for healthcare has lots of relevant free courses related to sexual and reproductive health (eSRH and eHIV/STI)
• Read related literature (including guidelines)
• Ask if you could shadow your local clinic or attend your local clinic for an informal visit.