Promoting nurses' positive attitudes toward cancer prevention/screening

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Cancer Prevention and Screening
• Public Health

Background:

• A special project grant funded the development and evaluation of a cancer prevention and screening education program for nurses.
• The program targeted approximately 60 nurses in rural Colorado settings over a 20-month period.
• Attitudes towards cancer prevention behaviors significantly influence nursing practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a cancer prevention and screening training program on nurses' attitudes and clinical skills.
• To assess the long-term confidence and practice changes in nurses following the training.

Main Methods:

• Administered two cancer-related attitude scales (Cancer Prevention/Early Detection Attitude Inventory and Fanslow Cancer Attitudes Scale) pre-training, post-training, and at six-month follow-up.
• Collected self-assessment data on nurses' confidence in applying new knowledge and skills.

Main Results:

• Significant improvements in pre- and post-training attitude scores were observed.
• Nurses reported high levels of confidence in utilizing their cancer prevention and detection skills.
• These findings suggest the program effectively enhanced nurses' capabilities.

Conclusions:

• The cancer prevention and screening training program demonstrated a positive impact on nurses' attitudes and confidence.
• Nurses are likely to continue applying their enhanced cancer prevention and detection skills in practice.
• Documentation of practice activities indicates impressive outcomes.