Using real life examples, this article shows how nurses, midwives and other professional carers can help patients to communicate about the way sexual feelings are affected by illness, childbirth and hospitalisation. Nurses need no special knowledge, the author argues, but need to develop confidence in their own ability to listen and respond

Whatever specialty we work in, and whatever environment, nurses need to be aware of the sexual aspects of people’s lives. These aspects are as important a part of patients as the colour of their hair or their individual personalities. One of the tasks of the nurse is to build bridges that patients may cross in safety to share their feelings about what is happening to them.