Prevenção do câncer de mama na Atenção Primária à Saúde: Atuação de enfermeiros

Abstract

Introduction: Breast cancer is the leading cause of death among women in both developed and developing countries. This neoplasm has become a serious public health problem in Brazil due to the great epidemiological impact it has been causing, which represents a challenge for the health system. The main strategy for its control is early detection. It is believed that the primary place for the development of these actions is Primary Health Care, which has Family Health as its main strategy, since it is the preferred gateway to the Unified Health System. The nurse is one of the professionals responsible for controlling this tumor. Objective: to investigate the difficulties faced by nurses working in the Family Health Strategies for the prevention of breast cancer in Campina Grande-PB. Method: This is a descriptive research, with a qualitative approach, which was carried out with ten nurses working in family health strategies in Campina Grande PB, through a semi-structured interview with questions designed to address the theme. For qualitative analysis of textual bodies, Atlas.ti software and analysis of Bardin's thematic content were used. Results: Most nurses demonstrated to know the epidemiological magnitude that the breast cancer has reached worldwide, but they did not know how to emphasize all the risk factors of the pathology. All said they did not have a training routine on the subject and half of the interviewees said that they already had training on the subject, but for a long time and that they did not seek it on their own. Almost all said that they carry out educational practices for the target audience and all stated that they do the breast cancer screening during the women's health consultation, however some do not know the manuals recommended by the Ministry of Health, and many of them did not know how to mention the screening methods, such as they also did not know how to specify the recommended age for clinical breast examination and the age range for requesting a mammogram. Virtually all of them stated that they actively search for absent women and only two did not recognize mammography as being the most capable exam to identify breast lesions. The great demand, work overload and the non adherence of the population to the services were listed as the main obstacles to nursing care in the prevention of . Half of the participants classified their professional practices as unsatisfactory for preventing breast cancer, which was attributed to several factors, such as work overload, lack of training and management incentive. Conclusions: The study pointed out difficulties faced in the nurses' work process regarding the prevention of breast cancer in the context of Primary Health Care, whether they are internal or external to work. It was found that professionals need to seek more knowledge about the risk factors for the disease, as well as training on the subject, in-depth knowledge of the manuals, protocols, and tracking methods established by the Ministry of Health for better performance in the face of the problem.