Primary care nurse's role and educational preparedness in skin cancer screening and early detection
October 15, 2024
Abstract
Aim
To identify the available evidence regarding nursing roles in skin cancer screening and early detection and the reported education and training undertaken to do so.
Design
Scoping review, reported in accordance with PRISMA-ScR.
Data Sources
A database search of Medline, CINAHL, Scopus, Embase, Emcare and JBI was conducted in November 2021. A grey literature search was conducted in February 2022. Searches were updated in August 2023.
Review Methods
The data were extracted and synthesized into themes related to nursing roles and education.
Results
Of the 2285 identified studies, 54 were included in the review. Nursing roles included screening and early detection, prevention and patient education or counselling. Except for specialized nurse practitioners, nurses working in primary clinical care mostly engage in skin cancer supportive/administrative roles rather than leading collaborators in screening and early detection. The education and training for nurses were identified around themes of didactic education, clinical experience, training in dermoscopy, performance and knowledge assessment and self-efficacy.
Conclusion
The roles and responsibilities of nurses working in skin cancer screening and early detection are highly variable, as are the reported training and education programmes. Little research has been conducted to explore this nursing role or the educational requirements needed for proficiency. With appropriate best practice education, it is within most primary care nurses’ scope of practice to obtain competence in delivering opportunistic skin cancer screening.
Source
Beames, C., Adelson, P., Sharplin, G., & Eckert, M. (2024). Primary care nurse's role and educational preparedness in skin cancer screening and early detection: A scoping review. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 80, 2228–2251. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.15993