Nurse-led sexual health care: international perspectives.

Nurses as first-line care providers for the treatment of sexually transmitted infections are a relatively new concept in the United Kingdom (UK). However, for over 25 years, services in other countries have been empowering nurses to work as autonomous practitioners, capable of dealing with patients presenting with a range of sexual health conditions and issues without necessarily seeking the advice or input of a doctor. This paper will present the observations of nurse-led services in Amsterdam, Seattle and Sydney. It will discuss how service providers in the UK can learn from the experiences of international colleagues and will argue why trained and experienced genitourinary medicine nurses need to advance their role and be better integrated as first-line care providers.