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Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) indicates the survival rate from breast cancer in Nigerian women is 48.9%. Little is known about the health-seeking behaviors and the factors that influence women with advanced breast cancer in Southwestern Nigeria to seek care. Objectives: This paper presents the factors influencing the health-seeking activities of women with advanced breast cancer from the time the participants observed breast changes until they presented in the hospital for care. Methods: Qualitative methods, specifically Interpretive Description (ID), was employed within the conceptual framework of the Health Belief Model (HBM). A University Human Ethics Review Board (REB) approved the study, while operational approval was granted by the hospital where the data collection took place. Thirty women with advanced breast cancer were recruited for the study using purposive sampling. Data was collected by engaging the participants in audio-recorded, semi-structured, face-to-face, one-on-one interviews guided by open-ended questions and a demographic form. The interview transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis, while the demographic information was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: The study identified motivating and enabling factors as well as barriers to engaging in health-seeking behaviors. Breast changes, interpretation of symptoms, the financial challenges of breast cancer treatments, sociocultural factors, and a desire to live influenced the participants’ health-seeking behaviors. Conclusion: Knowledge of these factors may help nurses and other healthcare providers to consider their patients’ health beliefs and perceptions, thereby empowering nurses to provide comprehensive, holistic, contextually relevant and efficient care to their patients. Community interventions should include strategies to raise breast cancer awareness and reduce the stigma associated with the illness. more...

Background: This is the second study reporting cancer nursing research output and follows on the previous review of 2005 to 2014. Purpose: To describe the publication output in the field of cancer nursing conducted by nurses in Africa, from 1 January 2015, to 31 December 2019. Methods: A scoping review was conducted. The key words Africa, cancer nursing and oncology nursing were used to search the databases CINAHL, Pubmed, ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health, PsychINFO, Sabinet African Journals, Scopus and Web of Science. Results: The first search yielded 837 manuscripts and 84 (n = 84) met the inclusion criteria. The studies were conducted in 14 African countries. Cervical cancer was the diagnostic focus of the highest percentage (44.0%; n = 37) and cervical cancer screening the most investigated topic (28.6%; n = 24). The work was primarily quantitative (59.5%; n = 50) and seven studies (8.3%; n = 7) tested a programme. Conclusions: Compared to the 10 year review that preceded this review, Africa’s nurses have increased their research output and nurses from more countries joined the research arena. Cervical cancer, specifically cervical cancer screening dominated. Studies involving men suffering from the most common cancers and the management of pain and other distressing symptoms are urgently needed. Due to the unique challenges cancer care face in Africa, symptom management could give nurses the opportunity to test interventions to prevent suffering. more...

Despite the high incidence of cervical cancer in Africa, little is known about pain management in women treated for this disease as best practices primarily focus on the prevention of cervical cancer. The study aimed at describing pain in women diagnosed with cervical cancer who received radiotherapy with/without concurrent chemotherapy, before treatment and at six and 12 months after the completion of the treatment. A cross sectional design and calculated sample size were used to recruit 168 women (n = 168), 58 (n = 56) in each treatment group. Structured interviews were used to collect the data and the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) served as the data collecting instrument. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data and the Kruskal-Wallis H Test determined statistical significant differences between the groups (p = 0.05). The majority of the respondents (78.0% n = 131) experienced disease related pain and most (73.9%; n = 85) experienced pain at the time of data collection. However, pain, on average, decreased after treatment and was at its lowest level six months after treatment but increased during the following six months. Pain influenced all the domains of function before treatment but improved after six months. There was a misfit between the level of pain and the type of analgesia used. In addition, most participants (58.3%; n = 67) took their pain medication only when needed. Our study highlighted the complexity of pain control, suggesting failure of both the healthcare professionals and the patients in achieving the ultimate goal of being pain free. Keywords: Cervical cancer, Pain, Radiotherapy more...

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide and the second most common cancer in women treated at the Cancer Diseases Hospital in Zambia. Unfortunately most women present with advanced disease, too late to be cured. The purpose of the study was to describe the experiences of Zambian women living with advanced breast cancer. We used a descriptive qualitative design and purposive sampling to select the participants. Ten in depth interviews were conducted and thematic analyses analysed the data. Data saturation determined the sample size. The average age of the participants was 48.2 years and most (7 of 10) had Stage IV breast cancer. Four themes arose from the data: experiencing the signs and symptoms of breast cancer, learning about the diagnosis and treatment, undergoing the treatment and living with advanced breast cancer. The study has shown that living with advanced breast cancer comprises severe suffering which started before diagnosis with the inability to recognise the signs. In addition, participants experienced various losses such as femininity, physical strength and appearance, roles and support which changed the lives they had lived before becoming ill. They battled through the chemotherapy and feared stigmatisation, yet receiving treatment and care brought hope. more...