Student nurses' knowledge of and attitudes towards cancer

Abstract

This study looks at the Maltese students' knowledge of and attitudes towards cancer. Research indicates that, nurses have predominantly negative attitudes towards cancer. This negative attitude is also seen in student nurses. Cancer is frequently perceived as a devastating disease for both the patient who has cancer and also for his/her family. Health care professionals perceive cancer as synonymous with death and most often they avoid cancer patients as they feel they are not able to communicate well with them. The data for this study was obtained by means of a self-administered questionnaire. The sample was composed of 16 student nurses from the Institute of Health Care in Malta. The results showed that the students had negative attitudes towards cancer and they felt that they had insufficient knowledge about cancer and cancer care. They also found it difficult to communicate with cancer patients, especially when they did not know whether the patient is aware of his/her diagnosis or not. The apparent limitations of the study are discussed and suggestions are made for further research to be carried out. In addition, the results might offer guidelines for better planning of the nursing curriculum.