Effects of an educational intervention on nurse practitioners' clinical breast examination techniques and ability to detect lumps in silicone breast models

Breast cancer continues to strike one in eight women during her lifetime in the United States. Until a cure is found, early detection offers the best treatment options and reduces mortality. The clinical breast examination has been found to be an effective screening tool for early detection. However, the technique has not been standardized in clinical trials, the literature, in training, or in practice even though research has suggested the most effective method for performing the technique.

This experimental equivalent groups posttest-only design study was done to determine the effects of the Gagnè Instructional Design Model of education on Louisiana nurse practitioners' clinical breast examination (CBE) technique and abilities to detect lumps in silicone breast models. Twenty-eight Louisiana nurse practitioners from varying specialties in two separate settings who agreed to participate were randomized into the control group or experimental group. Participants in the experimental group attended a Participants were then asked to examine 6 silicone breast models marking where they felt a lump requiring follow-up. Participants in the control group were asked to examine the silicone breast models prior to attending the educational session.

Multiple one-way analysis of variance were done to separately determine the relationships between the educational intervention and the nurse practitioners' CBE technique, number of lumps detected, and number of false positives identified. Results indicated that the educational intervention significantly improved both the CBE technique and number of lumps correctly identified. The third analysis indicated no significant difference in the educational intervention and number of false positives detected.