Introduction: Breast cancer is one of the most frequent cancers among women (World Health Organization, 2019), According to Breast Cancer Organization (2019), one out of every eight women, will suffer from breast cancer at some point in their lives. While the risk of death is a significant concern for breast cancer patients, empowering them to take responsibility for their health is essential for survival (Taleghani, Bahrami, Loripoor & Yousefi, 2014). Self-care education by nurses can influence treatment results and highlight the importance of nurses’ role (Shahsavari, Matory, Zare, Taleghani & Kaji, 2015).
Nursing Theory: Dorothea Orem explored the relevance of patient self-care with an emphasis on strengthening the patient’s own ability to self-care. Women breast cancer patients tend to experience adverse effects as long as six months or more after treatment, which affects their quality of life even further (Li, Li, Zheng, Wang, Zhu, Yang & He, 2018). Dorothea Orem’s nursing theory of self-care, also known self-care deficit theory argues that the patient's holistic wellbeing improves drastically when the patient can take care of him/herself independently (Santos, Ramos, & Fonseca, 2017). Thus, it is believed that while oncology nurses have many essential roles in cancer care, one in particular, is teaching breast cancer patients about self-care to enhance their quality of life, health, or well-being.
Purpose of the Study: The purpose of this quantitative study is to assess oncology nurses beliefs regarding the effectiveness of their breast cancer patient teaching.
Research question: What are oncology nurses beliefs regarding the effectiveness of their breast cancer patient teaching?
Method: After IRB approval, a five-item questionnaire developed by the student thesis researcher is administered to a convenience sample of 30 oncology nurses. Construct validity is obtained from the research committee prior to questionnaire administration.
Results and findings: Data are analyzed using descriptive statistics. Findings are discussed based on previous literature and Dorothea Orem's self-care theory. Implications and Recommendations for future research were provided after data collection and analysis.
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