Cancer prevention and screening activities reported by African-American nurses.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the cancer prevention and screening activities of African-American nurses prior to their participation in a national workshop on cancer prevention and screening. The hypothesis tested was that African-American nurses would describe few prevention and screening behaviors.


METHODS
18-month, longitudinal, descriptive study.


METHODS
National survey.


METHODS
360 African-American nurses who applied for participation in a National Cancer Institute/Oncology Nursing Society workshop received study questionnaires. One hundred forty-six questionnaires were returned. The final sample was 64 nurses citing involvement in prevention/screening activities.


METHODS
Self-administered quantitative/qualitative questionnaire mailed to nurses two weeks prior to the workshop. Quantitative data analyzed using descriptive statistics; a clustering technique was used to categorize responses emerging from qualitative data.


METHODS
Cancer prevention and screening activities of African-American nurses six months prior to the workshop.


RESULTS
Respondents reported involvement in 11 categories (618 prevention/screening activities), predominantly in those of life-style (86%), education (77%), and clinical screening (58%). Respondents practiced 64% of the activities on a voluntary basis. Respondents provided prevention/screening education to more than 8,900 community members.


CONCLUSIONS
African-American nurses favorably influence cancer prevention and screening beliefs and practices of clients in their communities.


CONCLUSIONS
A survey approach can describe cancer prevention/screening behaviors of African-American nurses. These nurses are an effective resource for community education.
Olsen
S J
SJ
University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Frank-Stromborg
M
M
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003625:Data Collection; D004509:Education, Nursing, Continuing; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009726:Nurses; D009859:Oncology Nursing / Q000193:education*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology