Factors involved in nurses' teaching breast self-examination.

It has been demonstrated that breast self-examination (BSE) is a reliable method for early detection of breast abnormalities when practiced regularly and correctly. In addition, it has been found that a woman is likely to be more proficient if she has been taught BSE by a physician or nurse. In a hospital-based study, nurses were surveyed regarding both their personal practice and their teaching of BSE to patients. Although the nurses revealed themselves to be highly compliant in terms of performing the procedure themselves, only 40% included BSE in their patient teaching. The nurses' teaching of BSE was found to be unrelated to their age, BSE practice, or personal risk for breast cancer. Nurses agreed that BSE was a valuable tool in the prevention of deaths from breast cancer. They also believed themselves to be susceptible to breast cancer despite good health and low-to-medium risk sources. We suggest that nurses' ambivalent attitudes towards breast cancer and BSE may influence their teaching behavior.