Awareness Of Cervical Cancer Screening Among Nurses In The Korle Bu Teaching Hospital

ABSTRACT Introduction: Cancer has been described to be a disease in which cells in the body grow so much the body can no longer control them. Cervical cancer is a disease that affects the cervix in the female reproductive system. It has been said to be the second cause of female cancers worldwide. It accounts for over 275,000 female deaths and about 529,000 new diagnoses each year. There is a reduction in the occurrence of cervical cancer in developed countries because of constant screening but not in developing because screening is not done regularly. In order to reduce the rate at which cervical cancer occurs in women, there is the need to create awareness of cervical cancer screening among women. Some of the methods of screening is the Pap smear and the Visual inspection with acetic acid. The one commonly used in Ghana is the Pap smear. This study seeks to assess the awareness, knowledge and practices level of cervical cancer screening among nurses. Methods: This was an exploratory qualitative study which employed in-depth interviews with nurses who have worked three to five years and above at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. Results: Findings indicated that the awareness of cervical cancer screening was very high among female nurses at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. Nurses are expected to be role models in all aspects of health service utilization. Findings showed that the extent of cervical cancer screening practice is very low among nurses even though the awareness was very high. Conclusion: Even though health practitioners are expected to be role models in all aspects of health service utilization, the study showed that the magnitude of cervical cancer screening practice is very low among nurse health professionals.