A nurse is counseling an adolescent patient and her mother about preventing cervical cancer. The most important health promotion action the nurse could suggest is to:
A) Abstain from alcohol
B) Avoid sexual intercourse
C) Do not start smoking
D) Get the HPV vaccine
I'll go ahead and present my argument-
Risk for cervical cancer is increased by the HPV virus, which is contacted through sexual intercourse. The question obviously didn't indicate that the girl was already sexually active
The answer was D) Get the HPV vaccine.
In my opinion, this is like telling a girl the best way to avoid getting pregnant is to use birth control. I think that avoiding sexual contact would be the first suggestion made by a nurse to an adolescent with her mother. This is the answer I'd expect to be given at a Planned Parenthood.
It sounds to me you are infusing your personal values/morals into that question and medical professionals should not do that. Our job is to provide sound medical advice and educate our patients. The answer to that question is clearly D.
It's not the nurses role in this question to make a moral judgement about the sexual behavior of the adolescent daughter. It is recommended that adolescent girls get the HPV vaccine because it is when most woman become sexually active.
Recommending the patient to abstain from sex is an unrealistic nursing intervention because it denies the reality that most teenagers have sex which may include her.
Even if the daughter is not sexually active, she will one day have sex and the HPV vaccine still prevents her from getting cervical cancer.
If the patient was a 28 year old single lady, would your answer change? There's your first clue that abstaining from sex was the wrong answer.
The medical world loves to vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate! So I would chose the vaccinate choice. In my family and with my kids, I am very choosy when it comes to vaccines. After extensive personal research, I've decided that my daughters will never get that vaccine. But if I was trying to get an exam question correct, I'd answer the way the medical world would want me to answer. Just choose the answer "they" want you to choose.
Okay, I will start by saying I completely agree with you, but......I knew the answer was the vaccine..What you say does make sense but I think because although you can teach the client to avoid abstain from sex it doesn't mean they will so getting a vaccine is more of a sure thing as far as protection. That being said I do agree with you :)
Most health care professionals realize that counselling an adolescent to abstain from sex is completely unrealistic.Getting the vaccine would be the obvious choice.
Do you really think by telling them "no" is going to prevent intercourse? Do you think a teenager is going to admit to being sexually active with their parent in the room?
I think you are pretty naive to think that a teenage girl, sexually active or not, couldn't be in a situation one day where sex is on the table. You hope and pray that you have taught them enough to make the right decision, but you can't make those decisions for them. Hence there is no guarantee that a smooth talking, prom king, captain of the football team, doesn't sweet talk them into sex. This is why HPV vaccine is the answer and not "avoiding intercourse".
It has been proven time and time again that teaching abstinence does NOT work. How many teens are avoiding intercourse just because someone "told them to". Right.
On the test I would have gone with the HPV vaccine, too. For the same reasons as you.
Abstaining from sexual intercourse is definitely not an option because let's be serious, everyone has sex! And I will always remember that because during my NCLEX review course, our instructor said everyone has sex on the NCLEX lol.
D. And I doubt that any adolescent girl already contemplating sexual activity will be dissuaded by the information that abstaining will decrease the likelihood of developing cervical cancer years from now. Also - the question doesn't say she isn't already sexually active, nor does it mention anything about birth control.
And the role of health prevention/promotion isn't about discouraging safe sexual acitivty, it's about disease prevention and harm minimisation. Decisions about sex are complex, personal, and not within the scope of this practitioner.
iluvpatho, welcome to the wonderful world of Madonna Nursing.
Hope you are doing well in your classes. Halfway there right?
Hi!!!! Yes, getting there :) Its gone well, the grading scale has been a bit shocking got my first B+ but believe me no complaining and it feels sometimes like I'm at a whole new school now, as though the nursing school is seperate from the regular University. I am currently waiting to find my fall clinical placement and hoping its a good one :) How's your job been??
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florence66
26 Posts
It sounds to me you are infusing your personal values/morals into that question and medical professionals should not do that. Our job is to provide sound medical advice and educate our patients. The answer to that question is clearly D.