Factors Affecting Attitudes Towards Cancer, Cancer Prevention, and Early Diagnosis Behaviors Among Cancer Patient Relatives.

Attitudes towards cancer may affect the cancer prevention behaviors of cancer patients' relatives and their participation in cancer screening. Knowing the factors affecting attitudes will shed light on the education programs to be planned to encourage individuals to gain a positive attitude towards cancer and positive health behaviors in cancer prevention. Determining the behaviors towards cancer prevention and cancer screening, identifying reasons that prevent participation in cancer screening, determining the factors associated with the attitudes of cancer patients' relatives towards cancer, determining the factors affecting their attitudes towards cancer of cancer patients' relatives, can increase the awareness of healthcare professionals and patient relatives on the subject. The aim of the present study was to determine cancer prevention and early diagnosis behavior and the factors affecting the attitudes of towards cancer of cancer patient relatives. The descriptive and analytical study was completed with 321 relatives of cancer patients. The data were collected by the face-to-face interview method. The interview was conducted in a quiet place, alone with the participant, using a clear and simple language, allowing people to speak freely, and avoiding criticism and evaluation. About half of the participants smoked (49.5%), many did not do regular physical activity (67.3%) or protect themselves from the sun (77.3%), and only 10.9% had regular screening tests. The reasons for not having a screening test were ignorance, disregard, lack of complaints, and fear. Acording to binary logistic regression analysis, the determinants included factors of negative attitudes toward cancer with the age of the patient (Exp(ß): 1.024), low education level (Exp(ß): 2.572), being the child (Exp(ß): 8.484) or sibling (Exp(ß): 8.801) of the patient, not being protected from the sun (Exp(ß): 2.063), and not doing physical activity (Exp(ß): 1.744). Even for those having positive health behaviors, such as not smoking (Exp(ß): 2.008) and using sun protection (Exp(ß): 2.280), the attitudes towards cancer were negative for the Impossible to Recover sub-dimension. Cancer prevention behaviors and regular participation in cancer screening of cancer patients' relatives were very low. It was determined that low education level, increasing age of the patient, and the degree of relation to the patient negatively affected attitudes towards cancer, and that there was a need for education. We believe that the results of the present study will contribute to evidence-based practice for cancer prevention and early diagnosis.

Knowledge and Practices of Nurses Regarding Wound Healing.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge and practices of nurses who work at surgical clinics regarding incisional wound healing. DESIGN: This research was a descriptive study. METHODS: The sample consisted of 393 nurses who worked at the surgical clinics of public and private hospitals. The questionnaire used to collect data was prepared by use of expert opinion based on the relevant literature review. FINDINGS: The mean score of knowledge regarding wound healing was found to be 62.0 ± 8.4. It was determined that as the educational level of the nurses increased, their knowledge mean score increased (P < .05). Nearly half of the nurses did not perform wound healing practices regularly, whereas more than half of the nurses did not fulfill discharge education practices on wound care regularly. CONCLUSIONS: Education should be carried out to improve knowledge, attitude, and skills of nurses concerning wound healing and care.

Effect of Terminal Patient Care Training on the Nurses' Attitudes Toward Death in an Oncology Hospital in Turkey.

This is an experimental research aiming at identifying the effect of terminal patient care training on the nurses' attitudes toward death. The sample of this study (n = 41) involves 20 nurses in the training group and 21 nurses in the control group. Nurses were offered terminal patient care training and their attitudes toward death were assessed before and after the intervention. The Death Attitude Profile-Revised (DAP-R) subscale mean scores for fear of death (3.9-4.6, p < .05) and approach acceptance (2.9-3.3, p < .05) were found to significantly increase at the end of training in the training group while mean scores in the control group displayed no significant change (p > .05) in any of the five DAP-R subscales. In accordance with these findings, this study suggests that terminal patient care training should be implemented in the nursing curriculum more extensively and should be frequently repeated as part of the nurses' in-service education.

Effect of an oral mucositis protocol on quality of life of patients with head and neck cancer treated with radiation therapy.

This study was conducted to determine the effect of an oral mucositis prevention protocol on nutritional status and quality of life for patients undergoing radiation therapy for head and neck cancers. This randomized, controlled, experimental study placed 20 patients in an intervention group where they received an oral care protocol and a nutrition protocol. Thirty patients were placed in the control group. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews using an oral assessment guide, oral evaluation guidelines, an oral toxicity scale, a visual analog scale, a subjective global assessment index, and a quality-of-life scale. As time post-treatment progressed, the prevalence of malnutrition in the intervention group was lower than in the controls group, and the intervention group experienced significantly less pain related to oral mucositis. Similar deteriorations in quality of life were noted in each group.