Awareness of Breast Cancer Risk Factors and Practice of Breast Self-Examination among Nurses in Jordan

Background: Breast cancer is the most common types of cancer and the most common malignancy afflicting women. It is considered a major health-threatening factor to women’s health in Jordan. Early detection of breast cancer plays a leading role in reducing mortality rates and improving patients’ prognosis. The nursing role within screening for breast cancer focuses on breast awareness. Thus, nurses and midwives should first be aware of their risk for breast cancer and breast self-examination (BSE). Aim: The aim of the current study was to assess female Jordanian nurses’ awareness related to risk factors of breast cancer and practice of breast self-examination. Material and Methods: A descriptive study design was used, with a convenience sample of 112 registered nurses in Zarqa City, Jordan between January and March 2011. A self-administered questionnaire which developed by the researcher was used for data collection. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 29.5±8.3 years and ranged from 18 to 55 years. More than half of the studied group were married and had worked for 5 years or more. Almost half of the nurses who working in maternity departments did not doing breast self-examination. Only 19.4% of the studied sample doing BSE regularly. The most common reason for not doing BSE was “don’t believe that it is beneficial”. There was not a significant relation between BSE practice and socio-demographic characteristics. Conclusion: In the present study, nurses had knowledge about risk factors of breast cancer and BSE; the majority of the nurses knew how to conduct BSE, but did not practicing it. There were gaps between knowledge and practice of BSE among nurses included in the study.