Nurse Actions Towards Breast Cancer screening and Early Diagnosis in Brazil

Abstract

Introduction: Health policies and programs for controlling breast cancer have emphasized multidisciplinary service and determined specific actions to be undertaken by different health professionals. Objective: To identify studies relating to actions, performed by nurses in primary care, towards screening and early diagnosis of breast cancer in Brazil. Method: An integrative literature review, also concerning indexed articles in PuBMed and Lilacs databases, without date restriction. Selected articles were organized chronologically and analyzed descriptively, according to public policies on the control of the disease. Results: Out of 83 articles found in various surveys, only five were selected. The outstanding actions reported in the articles were: breast self-examination, nursing consultation and clinical breast exam. Regarding this action, the authors claim that low performance is a result of nurses’ excessive tasks and lack of training. Conclusion: From the analysis of the articles, it was possible to observe not only the lack of studies related to nurse actions for the control of breast cancer in primary care, but also the existence of gaps in this professional’s training to perform nursing consultation and clinical examination of breasts, which implies the need to develop continuing education programs in order to ensure better care to users of health care services.