Jordanian nurses' knowledge and practice of breast self-examination.

AIM: This paper is a report of a study to evaluate the knowledge and practice of Jordanian nurses in relation to breast self-examination. BACKGROUND: Studies have shown that women who have learned about breast self-examination have positive attitudes toward breast cancer and practise breast self-examination more frequently, and that nurses who teach their clients about methods of early detection and breast self-examination are more knowledgeable about breast cancer screening and breast self-examination techniques than those who do not. Therefore, it is important to understand nurses' knowledge about breast cancer and its early detection. METHODS: A cross-sectional design was used, with a convenience sample of 347 Registered Nurses at three large cities in Jordan (response rate 95%). Data collection took place in 2005 using a self-administrated questionnaire with three parts and based on the American Cancer Society's guidelines: demographics, knowledge, and practice of breast self-examination. RESULTS: Nurses reported high levels of knowledge of breast self-examination (M = 7.6, SD. 2.7). A high proportion of nurses reported doing breast self-examination in the past 12 months (85%), but only 17.7% reported doing so on a monthly basis. None of the demographic characteristics was found to be associated with the practice of breast self-examination. CONCLUSION: More health education about monthly breast self-examination and prevention strategies is needed for nurses and their women patients, especially for Arabic women.

Problem-based learning (PBL): assessing students' learning preferences using VARK.

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to describe learning styles of third year nursing students. DESIGN: An interventional study Setting: a public university in Jordan. SUBJECTS: Used a purposive sample of 92 nursing students who were enrolled in maternity nursing course. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Measure the difference in learning styles of nursing students after introducing an intervention of PBL as a teaching methodology. RESULTS: The dominant learning preference of the students was the read/write preference followed by the kinesthetic, still most of the students represented a multimodal learning preference. No significant difference was found between males and females. A significant difference in the learning preferences of the students in the pre-post test was found. In the pretest the mean of the total VARK score 13.9 (SD=2) where as in the post test the mean of the total VARK score=16.5 (SD=3.5). In the pre-test 54% of students had a multimodal preference whereas 68% of students have a multimodal preference post-test. CONCLUSIONS: Most students are able to learn effectively as long as the instructor provides different learning activities in the areas assessed in VARK. Active learning might be enhanced in large classrooms by presenting models and demonstrations, discussions, debates, answering questions, and role playing.

Knowledge and practice of breast cancer screening among Jordanian nurses.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To examine Jordanian nurses' knowledge of a and proficiency with breast self-examination (BSE) and early detection of breast cancer. DESIGN: Descriptive. SETTING: Seven governmental and three private hospitals in the country of Jordan. SAMPLE: 395 female nurses working in different healthcare settings. Their ages ranged from 21-51 years (X= 31); nursing experience ranged from 1-30 years (X= 16). METHODS: Subjects completed a researcher-developed knowledge test consisting of 24 questions derived from the American Cancer Society's guidelines regarding risk factors associated with breast cancer and methods of early detection and from Jordan's breast cancer statistics. Responses to the knowledge test were summed for an overall knowledge score. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize data. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES: Knowledge of breast cancer and early detection and practice of BSE. FINDINGS: Nurses had low mean levels of knowledge about early detection and facts related to breast cancer in Jordan (X= 51%, SD = 19). Although 86% (n = 343) of the nurses reported performing BSE, only 18% (n = 62) reported doing so on a monthly basis. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses had limited levels of knowledge about breast cancer and methods of early detection; few nurses practiced BSE monthly. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING: Continuing education programs for nurses are urgently needed to improve nurses' knowledge about breast cancer and BSE. Additional studies to examine the impact of other variables on the practice of early-detection methods should be conducted, such as those that determine faculty knowledge and beliefs about early detection, those that assess curriculum content about breast cancer and its early detection, and those that assess other healthcare providers' knowledge and beliefs about early detection. Intervention studies that aim to increase nurses' knowledge of breast cancer and their practice of early-detection methods would be beneficial.