Teaching and communication strategies: working with the hospitalized adolescent with pelvic inflammatory disease.

The increased incidence of sexually transmitted disease (STD) in the adolescent population has led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to highly recommend inpatient therapy for all adolescents with pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). This in turn has led to an increased need for nurses in inpatient settings to be skilled at providing sexuality education to adolescents with PID. The nurse needs a clear understanding of STD and PID, and the ability to communicate effectively with adolescents to help them make healthy decisions about their sexual behavior.