Assessing Baccalaureate Nursing Students' Knowledge of Ovarian Cancer

NURSES ARE IN A PRIME POSITION TO EDUCATE CLIENTS ABOUT HEALTH PROMOTION, SPECIFICALLY, CANCER RISK, PREVENTION, SYMPTOMS, AND EARLY DETECTION. However, cancer education in undergraduate nursing programs is often spread out among many courses and focused on the most common cancers (breast, lung, colon, and prostate). Cancers that affect a small number of individuals, such as ovarian cancer, may be overlooked.While early symptoms of ovarian cancer are recognized (Gynecologic Cancer Foundation, 2007), few health care professionals and lay people are aware of these symptoms (Lockwood- Rayermann, Donovan, Rambo, & Kuo, 2009). Eighty-five percent of women are diagnosed in advanced stages of the disease, contributing to its ranking as the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths for women (American Cancer Society, 2012). This article reports on the outcomes of a focused ovarian cancer awareness program for nursing students.Literature Review Studies of nursing students' knowledge of cancer are descriptive but show a knowledge deficit of early symptoms, cancer-related side effects and management (Frerichs & Varricchio, 1988), and pain management (Sheehan, Webb, Bower, & Einsporn, 1992). Recent studies have included educational interventions to improve knowledge about cancer pain (Wilkes, Lasch, Lee, Greenhill, & Chiri, 2003), skin cancer prevention (Siegel, 2010), and ovarian cancer (Fitch, McAndrew, Turner, Ross, & Pison, 2011). While all of these studies demonstrated that cancer knowledge can be improved with education, Fitch and colleagues reported that deficits still remained regarding symptoms and screening tests for ovarian cancer. Researchers did not examine long-term knowledge retention.Nurses Educational Initiative The Nurses Educational Initiative (NEI) is an educational program that expands on the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance's Survivors Teaching Students Program (2012). The NEI is a two-part interactive program involving faculty, students, and cancer survivors. Part 1 consists of an evidence-based lecture regarding ovarian cancer incidence, risk factors, screening guidelines, and symptoms; particular emphasis is placed on a Pap test not being an effective screening tool for ovarian cancer. To enhance the impact of the program, Part 2 consists of a presentation by one or more women who discuss their personal experiences with ovarian cancer. A question and answer period follows.Method A descriptive, one-gro up pre- and posttest design was used to examine the effectiveness of the NEI on baccalaureate nursing students' knowledge about ovarian cancer. Institutional review board approval was obtained prior to the start of the study. Students (N = 220) at a large state university in Florida participated at all three data collection time points. Data concerning knowledge were collected immediately prior to (Time 1) and immediately after the NEI (Time 2). Long-term knowledge retention was collected before graduation, 18 months after the NEI (Time 3). An investigator-developed instrument that directly reflected the evidence- based content presented during the NEI was used.Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, frequencies, and paired t-tests using SPSS® version 18. Bonferroni's corrections were used, bringing the significance level to 0.017 (.05/3). Knowledge was measured by summing the number of correct answers on each survey. Answers were coded as: 0 = no, 1 = yes, with "yes" indicating the correct answer. The highest possible scores for each category are: total knowledge (19), incidence (1), risk (6), screening (2), symptoms (9), and most effective surgeon (1). Results Changes at all three time points were noted for overall knowledge and knowledge of risk, screening, and symptoms. For overall knowledge, mean baseline scores increased from 11.8 to 15.03 points at Time 2, but decreased to 12.74 points at Time 3. Mean risk scores were: baseline, 4.13 points; Time 2, 5. …