Nursing and midwifery students breast self examination knowledge and practice

Abstract

The present descriptive survey was conducted to identify and describe breast self-examination knowledge and practice of nursing and midwifery students. The convenience sample consisted of 68 female students enrolled in the end year of the undergraduate program at Hamadan university in Iran in 2001. The data were collected using a questionnaire and observing form. The majority of participants (79.4%) reported that they had performed breast self-examination. Only 29.4% of participants described their breast self-examination practice as regular. The majority of participants (71.8% of midwifery students and 62.1% of nursing students) had average knowledge about breast self-examination. The majority of midwifery students (48.7%) had good practice and in nursing students majority of them (58.9%) had average practice. Significant differences were found between the knowledge and practice with kind of educational field (p<0.001). The implications of this study are the midwives and nurses' teaching to the clients may be increased if more emphasis on breasts self examination occurs in undergraduate courses. Also, the provision of breast self examination educational program is necessary to increase midwives and nurses' knowledge, confidence, performance and teaching of breast self-examination. © 2006 Academic Journals Inc., USA.