Knowledge of nursing students about breast cancer prevention

Abstract

Abstract Introduction. Breast cancer has been one of the biggest oncological problems both in Poland and around the world. In 2014, a total of 17,379 new cases of this disease were diagnosed in Poland, which constitutes 22% of all cancer types in women. A growing number of women suffering from this type of cancer poses a challenge for the future nurses who should have enough knowledge to professionally plan and implement high quality care to their patients. Aim. To investigate whether nursing students have knowledge about breast cancer prevention. Methods. The study was conducted in 2019 and included 166 nursing students from the Medical University of Warsaw. The diagnostic survey method was used to collect data, and with the author’s consent, a survey developed by dr Jolanta Sielska was used. Results. Over a half of the respondents (67.58%) knew correct answers regarding the principles of breast cancer prevention. Out of maximum of 22 points, students in average scored a total of 14.87 points, indicating a good level of knowledge regarding this issue. The majority of students (96.39%) claimed they knew the principles of breast self-examination. One fourth of the respondents (26.51%) rated their knowledge in the field of breast cancer prevention as 7 on a scale from 1 to 10. There was no correlation between students’ self-assessment of their knowledge and the actual level of knowledge regarding this topic. Conclusions. Nursing students from the Medical University of Warsaw generally have good knowledge about breast cancer prevention. This suggests that they are prepared to educate their future patients during professional work.