Self‐Care for Patients with Breast Cancer to Prevent Side Effects of Chemotherapy: A Concern for Public Health Nursing

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Abstract
A convenience sample of 30 patients with breast cancer who were initiating their first course of chemotherapy recorded in a log the side effects of treatment they were experiencing and the preventive self‐care activities they undertook. The patients recalled an average of 2.6 (14 percent) potential side effects they were at risk of developing. Their preventive self‐care activity was low; the average number of initiated behaviors was 0.9. Given that the average number of potential side effects from chemotherapy was 18.8 (mode = 18), the lack of self‐care activity is remarkable. Patients cited themselves as the most frequent source of information for their preventive self‐care actions, then physicians, and last nurses. This clearly emphasizes the need for public health nurses to become more active in facilitating outpatient self‐care activities, since scheduled contact with health care professionals occurs only once every three weeks.