Opportunistic screening actions for breast cancer performed by nurses working in primary health care

Abstract

Objective:To identify opportunistic screening actions for breast cancer performed by nurses working in primary health care units in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo. Method: Cross-sectional study with 60 nurses from 28 units, who had been working for at least one year in the public municipal health care network. Data were collected between December 2013 and March 2014, by means of a questionnaire, using descriptive analysis and the software IBM SPSS version 20 and Microsoft Excel 2010. Results: The results showed that 71.7% of the participants questioned their female patients as for risk factors for breast cancer, mainly during nursing consultation; 70.0% oriented users about the age to perform clinical breast exam, whereas 30.0% did not due to lack of knowledge and time; 60.0% explained about the age to perform mammogram; 73.3% did not refer patients with suspicious breast exam results to the referral department, citing scheduling as the main obstacle to referral. Educational activities were not performed by 78.3% of participants. Conclusion: Investment is needed in professional training and management of breast cancer screening. DESCRIPTORSBreast Neoplasms; Primary Health Care; Nurse's Role.

Actions of nurses in early detection of breast cancer

“…It should be noted that in the new National Guidelines for Early Detection of Breast Cancer, published by the Ministry of Health on October 5, 2015, the CEB is not recommended as a screening measure, since its benefits are uncertain and there is no evidence of its effectiveness in reducing the mortality rate (23) . In this study, lack of time was the most frequent challenge mentioned by the nurses for not performing the CEB, a similar finding to a study conducted in one BHU in Ribeirão Preto (13) and a study conducted in the East region of the municipality of São Paulo (24) .…”

“…Another aspect to be considered is that more than half the nurses reported having participated in a training course on breast cancer screening, and 50% of them reported this training had been provided more than two years ago. A similar result was obtained in a study with primary healthcare unqualified nurses in Ribeirão Preto, in which 65.0% reported having had it more than two years (13) . These findings highlight the need for additional institutional investment in permanent education of these professionals in their primary healthcare activities.…”

“…However, for the population of this study, the possible delay may be related to a difficult exam scheduling, a situation reported by 76.3% of the nurses. These data are confirmed by studies conducted with nurses from Ribeirão Preto primary healthcare (13) and users of the Unified Health System (SUS) (28) , in which exam scheduling is identified as one of the main obstacles to speeding up this exam process.…”

“…On the other hand, 75.0% of the nurses point out smoking as one of the factors that characterize high risk for this disease, which suggests the need for a better clarification on the subject. A national study conducted with primary healthcare nurses also describes that these professionals highlight the family history and smoking (13) as risk factors for the development of breast cancer, reinforcing the need for further clarification on this theme, considering the lack of consensus that would confirm the association of tobacco with the etiology of this neoplasm (20)(21) . Regarding the actions performed by primary healthcare nurses, most of them reported performing the CEB, which indicates compliance with the recommendations of the Ministry of Health in the period of data collection (4)(5) .…”

Análise de sobrevida de mulheres com câncer de mama

“…[1][2][3] However, when breast cancer is detected in early stages, the chances of treatment and cure increase significantly, with a survival rate of 97% in five years. [4][5][6] In this sense, strategies such as clinical examination of the breasts and mammography are effective in the tracking and control of this disease, since the less advanced stages at the time of diagnosis increase the probability of success in the treatment and, consequently, increase the survival of the patients. patients.…”