Ahern, Tracey, Gardner, Anne, and Courtney, Mary (2015) A survey of the breast care nurse role in the provision of information and supportive care to Australian women diagnosed with breast cancer. Nursing Open, 2 (2). pp. 62-71.

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Abstract

Aim: To explore the role of the Australian breast care nurse in the provision of information and support to women with breast cancer, with a focus on the differences experienced depending on geographic work context.

Design: A cross-sectional study.

Methods: This study conducted in 2013, involved surveying BCNs currently working in Australia, using a newly developed self-report online survey.

Results: Fifty breast care nurses completed the survey, 40% from major cities, 42% from inner regional Australia and 18% from outer regional, remote and very remote Australia. Patterns of service indicated higher caseloads in urban areas, with fewer kilometres served. Breast care nurses in outer regional, remote and very remote areas were less likely to work in multi-disciplinary teams and more likely to spend longer consulting with patients. Breast care nurses reported they undertook roles matching the competency standards related to the provision of education, information and support; however, there were barriers to fulfilling competencies including knowledge based limitations, time constraints and servicing large geographical areas.

Conclusions: This was the first Australian study to describe the role of the breast care nurse nationally and the first study to investigate breast care nurses perceived ability to meet a selection of the Australian Specialist Breast Nurse Competency Standards. Important differences were found according to the geographical location of breast care nurses.

Item ID:	47492
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	2054-1058
Keywords:	health services research, nursing roles, oncology nursing, rural nursing, surveys
Additional Information:	2015 The Authors. Nursing Open published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Date Deposited:	01 Mar 2017 02:53
FoR Codes:	11 MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES > 1110 Nursing > 111099 Nursing not elsewhere classified @ 100%
SEO Codes:	92 HEALTH > 9202 Health and Support Services > 920210 Nursing @ 100%
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