The Factors Influencing the Health Promotional Role of Nurses Against Cervical Cancer in Jinja Regional Referral Hospital.

Abstract

Introduction: Cervical Cancer is one of the preventable cancers in Uganda with a crude incidence rate of 22.6 per 100,000 population, and 2,464 deaths per year. Eighty percent of the clients report late a situation which can be averted by the nurses if they played their health promotional role against cervical cancer. General Objectives: The main objective of the study was to investigate the factors that influence the nurses’ health promotional role against cancer of the cervix in Jinja Regional Referral Hospital. Methodology: The study was carried among 154 nurses in Jinja Regional Referral Hospital using a cross sectional design. Participants for quantitative and qualitative study were selected using the consecutive and purposive sampling methods respectively. Data was collected on nurses' socio-demographic factors, health system factors, and nurses’ attitudes towards health promotional roles against cancer of cervix using a pre-tested questionnaires and interview guides. Quantitative data was entered in the Epidata and analysed by SPSS software package version 10.0. Qualitative data was analysed by thematic analysis of the response to identify the emerging themes for presentation of results. Results: Nurses with less than nine years of work experience (OR = 2.32, P = 0.011), nurses with salary scale U3-U4 (OR = 10.51, P = 0.027), nurses without a job description (OR = 5.56, P = <0.001) and nurses who follow-up of cancer patient (OR = 7.2, P = 0.001) were more likely to be involved in health promotional activities against cancer of cervix. Overall nurses were less involved in health promotional activities against cancer of cervix. Nurses with negative attitudes towards their health promotional role against cervical cancer (OR = 0.52, P = 0.048), clients involvement (OR = 0.45, P = 0.016) and health promotion as a concept (OR = 0.38, P = 0.004) were less likely to get involved in health promotion against cancer of the cervix. Conclusion: Overall nurses were less involved in health promotional activities against cancer of cervix. Generally nurses in Jinja Regional Referral Hospital had a positive attitude towards health promotion against cancer of cervix. Nurses with less than nine years of work experience, salary scale U3-U4, without a job description and nurses who followed-up cancer patients were more likely to be involved in health promotional activities against cancer of cervix than those who were not. Recommendation: It is recommended that the Ministry of Health strengthens the cervical cancer prevention programs while providing logistic and in-service training to the health workers so as to increase accessibility and utilisation of cervical cancer prevention services by the clients. Jinja District uses various approaches and media to disseminate health promotional messages against cervical cancer as the hospital conducts three continuous medical sessions on cervical cancer per quarter and gives support for follow up visits. The Ministry of Health and nursing council needs to strengthen its supervisory role to change the nurses’ attitudes towards preventive services.