Registered nurses' knowledge and practices of teaching and performing breast exams among elderly women.

This study was designed to identify registered nurses' knowledge and beliefs regarding breast cancer in elderly women, and to identify the practices of registered nurses in performing breast exams and teaching breast self-examination (BSE) to this client group. Correlational analysis using Pearson moment correlation showed a weak inverse relationship between nurses' attitudes toward the elderly and performing and teaching breast exams. As the nurse's negativism about aging increased, the incidence of teaching and performing exams decreased. A strong relationship was found between thorough and regular examination of the nurse's own breasts and performance of the exam on elderly women. As predicted, nurses were more likely to perform than teach exams. Using logistic regression, it was found that nurses who were employed full-time, married nurses, nurses who reported encouragement for themselves to do the exam, and nurses who were confident in examining themselves were more likely to examine the breasts of the elderly women. Nurses were more likely to teach BSE when they had a family history of breast cancer, spent greater than 50% of their time on direct care, reported belonging to a nursing association, were confident in detecting a lump in their own self-exams, and had a baccalaureate degree or higher.