Knowledge and Practice of Cervical Cancer Screening amongst Nurses in Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital Zaria

Abstract

Cervical cancer is both preventable and curable, yet morbidity and mortality from the disease remain high especially in developing countries. Request for cervical cancer screening by Pap smear and cytology or any other screening methods have been found to be exceedingly low even among health workers. This study was conducted to examine the knowledge, attitude and practice of cervical screening among female nurses in Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital Zaria, with a view to identifying defining variables of attitude and practice of cervical screening. Data was collected from a convenience sample of 117 nurses through a self-administered questionnaire. Those who were not aware of cervical cancer screening (n=3) were excluded. A descriptive analysis of the data collected from 114 of the nurses who were aware of the screening revealed that awareness and knowledge of the cervical cancer screening was very high but they exhibited indifference and negative attitude, and low personal screening practices. Several reasons were put forward for this low level of practice among which were fears of test being positive and non consent from husbands. This finding among nurses being agents of such health education calls for concern. It is therefore recommended that concerted efforts should be made to dispel the fears of outcome of test and to incorporate husbands into future health education of married female nurses. This will increase the number of nurses who will go for voluntary cervical cancer screening.

Keywords: Cervical cancer screening, Pap smear, Cancer prevention, Knowledge, Practice