Infertility education in baccalaureate schools of nursing

The increasing number of couples who enter the current health care system for assistance with fertility needs warrants an examination of the ways nurse educators are preparing nurse generalists to meet those needs. A survey was conducted of baccalaureate nursing programs to determine what, if any, information was being presented on infertility. Analysis of data with a 50% return rate indicated most schools of nursing in this sample are in fact including some information on infertility in their curricula. What is interesting to note is only slightly more than half of respondents included information on the emotional and psychosocial issues of infertility, despite the fact that the greatest cost of infertility is the emotional one. One of the major concerns of infertile couples is health care providers, including nurses, do not seem to understand what they are experiencing. How do nurses obtain such understanding if they are not prepared in their educational program to do so?