Nurses Knowledge toward Breast Cancer in Azady Teaching Hospital

Background and Objectives: Breast cancer is a malignant tumor that starts in the cells of the breast. A malignant tumor is a group of cancer cells that can grow into (invade) surrounding tissues or spread (metastasize) to distant areas of the body. The disease occurs almost entirely in women, but men can get it, too. The aim of the present study is to assess nurses knowledge’s towards breast cancer in Azady teaching hospital as well as to find out the relation ship between nurses genders and their knowledge Material and Method: A descriptive study of a quantitative design were carried out at Azadi teaching hospital from 1st of July, 2012, up to the 16th of April, 2013. A non-probability (purposive) sample of (100) nurses were selected from nurses who working in Azadi Teaching Hospital in Kirkuk city. Developed questionnaire was constructed for the purpose of the study which contain (42) items: the demographic data and knowledge of the nurses. The data were collected through the use of interview. They were analyzed through the application of descriptive statistical analysis (frequency , percentage) and inferential statistical data analysis (chi-square). Results: The findings of the study indicated that most of the nurses were in age group between (23-27), female, have (1-5) years of employment, graduated from medical institute, have not taken classes about breast cancer Conclusion: The study concluded that the nurses had good knowledge regarding general information of breast cancer, breast self examination, signs and symptoms and treatment of breast cancers while there knowledge regarding the risk factors of breast cancer were reasonable to some extent. Key words: Breast cancer, Malignant tumor, Metastasize, Breast self-examination, cancer cells.