Cancer prevention and screening activities reported by African-American nurses

Abstract

Purpose/objectives: To describe the cancer prevention and screening activities of African-American nurses prior to their participation in a national workshop on cancer prevention and screening. The hypothesis tested was that African-American nurses would describe few prevention and screening behaviors.

Design: 18-month, longitudinal, descriptive study.

Setting: National survey.

Sample: 360 African-American nurses who applied for participation in a National Cancer Institute/Oncology Nursing Society workshop received study questionnaires. One hundred forty-six questionnaires were returned. The final sample was 64 nurses citing involvement in prevention/screening activities.

Methods: Self-administered quantitative/qualitative questionnaire mailed to nurses two weeks prior to the workshop. Quantitative data analyzed using descriptive statistics; a clustering technique was used to categorize responses emerging from qualitative data.

Main research variable: Cancer prevention and screening activities of African-American nurses six months prior to the workshop.

Findings: Respondents reported involvement in 11 categories (618 prevention/screening activities), predominantly in those of life-style (86%), education (77%), and clinical screening (58%). Respondents practiced 64% of the activities on a voluntary basis. Respondents provided prevention/screening education to more than 8,900 community members.

Conclusion: African-American nurses favorably influence cancer prevention and screening beliefs and practices of clients in their communities.

Implications for nursing practice: A survey approach can describe cancer prevention/screening behaviors of African-American nurses. These nurses are an effective resource for community education.