Assessment of nurses' perception of role of genetics in development of breast cancer at Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido-Ekiti

Abstract

ObjectiveChanges in the traditional approaches to prevention, diagnosis, and therapeutic management of breast cancer are becoming increasingly genetically based. It is therefore important for nurses to have competency in underlying biology of carcinogenesis and the molecular rationale underlying strategies to prevent, diagnose, and treat breast cancer. The risk for breast cancer is increased in individuals carrying a mutation in a predisposing gene and in others with a number of affected relatives with early age of disease onset. The authors investigated perception of nurses on the role of genetics in the development of breast cancer. Methods and materialA descriptive quantitative research design was adopted as the research design. The instrument for data collection was an adapted, pre-tested semi-structured, and self-administered questionnaire. Study participants were 187 nurses working at a tertiary health institution in Ekiti State. Data were analyzed and summarized using both descriptive and inferential statistics with level of significance set at P < .05. ResultsThe mean age of respondents was 39 ± 9.1 years and majority (86.2%) were females and B.Sc. (Bachelor of Science) (53.2%), with more than a decade working experience (62.2%). The study revealed that knowledge of the role of genetics in development of breast cancer was low among respondents with only a few (25.6%) having good knowledge. Although majority of the respondents had good perception of genetic counseling, only 40% had good practice of genetic assessment and counseling with a few of them ever using “Family pedigree trees”, “ever referred a breast cancer patient for genetic assessment”, and with many reporting “difficulties guiding breast cancer patients in seeking genetic counselling”… ConclusionDespite high level of education, knowledge, and practice of genetic counseling and assessment is poor among the respondents, with many reporting difficulties guiding breast cancer patients/relatives in seeking genetic counseling.