| Learning Objective #1: Describe breast cancer knowledge of a sample of African-American nursing students | |||
| Learning Objective #2: Describe the breast self-examination self-efficay and breast self-examination practices of a sample of African-American nursing students |
Objective: To determine breast cancer knowledge, breast self-examination(BSE)self-efficacy, and BSE practice of African American nursing students. Design: The study used a descriptive correlational design. Sample: A convenience sample of 76 undergraduate nursing students participated in the study. Concepts: Beast Cancer knowledge, BSE self-efficacy, BSE practice. Methods: The Breast Cancer knowledge Test and the Fiscella Breast Self-Examination Tool were used to collect data. The Breast cancer knowledge test is a 20-item test developed by Adderley-Kelly and Green with a reliabilty of .90. A score of 85 was considered passing. The Fiscella BSE Self-Efficacy Tool is a 14-item Likert-type scale that measures level of confidence when performing BSE and BSE practice. Scores range from 14 to 70 with and acceptable score of 45.(Reliability .94). Following permission to conduct the study, the instruments were administed at the end of a class period and returned to the investigator. Descriptative and inferential statistics were used in anlaysis. Findings: The mean knowledge score was below the acceptable passing score. The mean self-efficacy score was slightly above the acceptable passing score. Only 27.3% of the sample practice monthly BSE. Almost half of the sample forgot to practice for a number of reasons. Regression analysis indicated that of the 14 questions measuring self efficacy, question 2 was the best predictor of self-efficacy. Conclusions. The number of deaths from breast cancer can be lowered if more women were more knowledgeable and followed recommended early detection guidelines for breast cancer. These findings indicate that this sample of African American women is not engaging in behaviors recommended for early detection of breast cancer. Implications: Because women with and without risk factors are at risk for brest cancer, knowledge of breast cancer and early detection practices constitute a significant portion of the armament against a potentially fatal disease.
Back to Disease Prevention
Back to 14th International Nursing Research Congress
Sigma Theta Tau International
10-12 July 2003