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Awareness of Signs and Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer among Gynecology Nurses in a Large Teaching Hospital in the UK (Awareness of Ovarian Cancer among Gynecology Nurses)

Olumide Ofinran, Daniel Hay, Raheela Khan and Summi Abdul

Background: The overall mortality of ovarian cancer is high because of its late presentation, with over 80% of patients presenting with advanced disease largely due to the vague symptoms in its early stages. Ninety percent of those diagnosed with early stage ovarian cancer were symptomatic before diagnosis. It is therefore important that women are aware of the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer as early detection greatly improves the chances of successful treatment, and because nurses play an important helping role which is useful in public education and awareness, they should be aware of the red flags of ovarian cancer.
Objectives: To evaluate how well informed Gynecology nurses are about the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer.
Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was carried out among 60 Gynecology nurses of the Royal Derby Hospital, UK between April and July 2014.
Conclusion: Fifty-three percent of the respondents had good knowledge of the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer. Significantly more nurses working with inpatients (63%) had better knowledge than those working in the outpatient (40%), and only 20 of the 60 respondents had good knowledge of the risk factors for ovarian cancer. More knowledge of the red flags of ovarian cancer is needed among the Gynecology nurses and these can be done through various educational programs.