Cancer screening practices of nurse practitioners

The Nurse Practitioner's (NP) role in providing quality primary care with emphasis on health promotion is well established. Yet the NP's actual cancer detection activities are unknown. To determine the cancer screening and detection activities of NPs in adult primary care settings, a questionnaire survey was developed from the American Cancer Society's "Guidelines for the Cancer-Related Checkup" and current cancer detection literature. The survey was distributed to primary care NPs throughout the state of Michigan (n = 97). Pearson correlation coefficients were applied to the data to establish the relationship of cancer screening practices by NPs to specific age groups and by gender. Practitioners reported significantly higher frequencies of recommended screening for adult women than for adult men. Although at a lower risk for developing cancer, younger and early middle-aged adults (19-39 years) received significantly higher frequencies of recommended screening than middle-aged and older adults. NPs believe that cancer screening and counseling are consistent with their role except in the areas of male physical exam (testes, prostate) and invasive procedures such as sigmoids for men and women. The broader implications for further research, organization of primary care services, and strategies to increase nurses' involvement in cancer screening practices are presented.