“What I’m Trying to Say Is That Some Nurses Are Good While Some Are Not Good”:Diverse Attitudes of Health Workers Providing Sexual and Reproductive Health Services to Young People in Nigeria

Abstract

IntroductionAttitudes of healthcare providers towards young people seeking sexual and reproductive health services (SRHS) are poorly described in research. Yet, this has implications for the promotion and operations of Youth Friendly Sexual and Reproductive Health Services (YFSRHS). This study seeks to identify and describe the overall treatments received by young people seeking SRHS.MethodA total of 31 qualitative sessions were conducted, comprising 20 in-depth interviews (IDIs) with healthcare providers and 11 focus group discussions (FGDs) with young people aged 15–24 years in Ebonyi state. The data were collected from December 2022 to March 2023. The analyses followed a coding reliability approach.ResultsFindings indicate that healthcare providers express both negative and positive attitudes when providing SRHS to young people. The attitude expressed is determined by the SRH sought and an intersection of social characteristics like age, gender, marital status and economic status. Thus, young unmarried persons may be reprimanded for seeking safe motherhood and newborn care, whereas young married persons are better received and treated positively. Young boys and girls experience negative treatment when seeking contraceptives but young girls are easily attended to when seeking information and counselling on SRH.ConclusionHealthcare providers’ attitude when dealing with young people seeking SRHS is influenced by multiple social dimensions, which reinforce discrimination and marginalisation