Budden, Lea (2004) Australian women’s pre-diagnostic decision-making for early breast cancer treatment. In: Papers from 6th National Breast Care Nurses Conference 2004. p. 1. From: Research to reality: 6th National Breast Care Nurses Conference, 4-5 March 2004, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

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Abstract

The nature of decision-making of women, who are confronted with a diagnosis of breast cancer, is poorly understood. Yet, the participation of women in treatment decisions has greatly expanded in recent years. The available treatment options often confuse women who are diagnosed with early breast cancer. These women are required in a short time and under stressful conditions, to choose between treatment options. For nurses to fulfill their role as holistic caregivers, interventions that empower women in participating in treatment decisions need to be developed. The desired outcome for decision support is to improve women’s quality of life following a diagnosis of breast cancer. However, before decision support, measures can be further developed and evaluated, it is critical to obtain an understanding of women’s knowledge, beliefs, values, and preferences for breast cancer treatment, before being diagnosed with an early stage of the disease. Increasing the understanding of factors, which influence women’s treatment decisions, can aid nurses in designing decision support interventions which facilitate informed consent and lead to women making quality decisions in which may lead, to greater satisfaction, better post-surgical adjustment, improved convalescent and less regret. This presentation will discuss the findings of a study (N=377) of women’s pre-diagnostic decision-making for early breast cancer and discuss the implications for decision support by nurses.

Item ID:	8450
Item Type:	Conference Item (Abstract / Summary)
Related URLs:	http://www.contemporarynurse.com/archive...
Date Deposited:	15 Jul 2010 05:48
FoR Codes:	11 MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES > 1110 Nursing > 111003 Clinical Nursing: Secondary (Acute Care) @ 100%
SEO Codes:	92 HEALTH > 9202 Health and Support Services > 920210 Nursing @ 100%
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