Nurses, Healthy Women and Preventive Gynecological Examinations - Vlora City Scenario, Albania

Background: Nurses play an important role in preventive medicine because they represent the largest sector of health professionals. This role is very crucial in developing countries, which are going through rapid societal and economic changes, associated with a rising burden of cancers due to different risk factors. The current study aimed to compare health awareness between nurses and healthy women regarding preventive gynecological examinations and to answer the question - can nurses make a difference in women's health? Materials and Methods: This cross sectional research included a total of 150 women, 70 nurses and 80 healthy women, randomly selected. Data were collected in 2014 in Vlora city through a self-administered questionnaire that assessed different variables about preventive gynecological examinations. Results: Cervical screening rates were 20.3% and 41.8%, respectively, for nurses and healthy women, despite the former having a statistical significant greater knowledge of risk factors and symptoms. Conclusions: Even if the health awareness of nurse participants can be considered good, they need themselves to increase participation rates in cervical screening if they are to provide role models for health education/promotion addressing misconceptions and barriers.