Background A focus of Healthy People 2010 is education and community- based programs. The Native WEB (Women Enjoying the Benefit) is a training program developed to provide breast and cervical cancer screening skills to nurses who provide cancer-screening services to underserved women. This study was designed to evaluate these nurses’ clinical breast examination (CBE) skills.
Method The CBE skills of 34 nurses were evaluated in conjunction with a Native WEB annual conference. Participants were asked to examine a test set of six specifically designed silicone breast models. The rates of true-positive detections were evaluated. The test models used each contained 250cc. of silicone. There were a total of 18 lumps distributed between five of the models; one model contained no lumps. The lumps had three characteristics: size (3mm, 5mm 10mm), depth (medium or deep) and hardness (20, 40 or 60 durometers). Comparisons of lump detection between the Native WEB nurses and a group of 80 physicians from a previous trial were made using a Wilcoxon rank sum test.
Results The nurses detected more lumps in the test models (mean=13.8) than the comparison group of physicians (mean=8.0) using the same protocol (p<0.001). This difference was evident across all levels of hardness and depth (p<0.001 for each level, respectively.)
Conclusion The nurses evaluated in this trial were able to detect breast lumps in silicone models at a higher rate compared to physicians evaluated in an earlier study.
Learning Objectives: Clearly identify the outcomes participants can expect to demonstrate as a result of the Native WEB training
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: May mention MammaCare breast models
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.