AWARENESS REGARDING PROTON THERAPY AMONG NURSES

Abstract

Background: Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for nearly 10 million deaths in 2020, or nearly one in six deaths. The most common cancers are breast, lung, colon and rectum and prostate cancers. ^[1]  Proton beam therapy, is a type of radiation treatment that uses a beam of protons to deliver radiation directly to the tumor. The advantage of proton therapy  is that the physician can control where the proton releases the bulk of its cancer-fighting energy. As the protons move through the body, they slow down and interact with electrons, and release energy.^[2] . The aim of the study was to assess the level of awareness regarding Proton therapy among nurses. Methods &Materials: A cross sectional descriptive correlational research design was adopted to assess the awareness of nurses on proton therapy. An extensive review of literature and guidance from the experts formed the foundation to the development of the tools such as demographic variables proforma, MCQ questionnaire on proton therapy in google form. The present study was conducted in selected tertiary care center at Chennai, among 60 nurses selected by purposive sampling technique. After obtaining setting permission and research participants’ consent, a brief introduction of the research was given. Then the data were collected using the predetermined tools through email using google forms. The collected data were organized and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.Results: More than half of nurses had adequate overall knowledge on Proton therapy ( 55%), majority of them had adequate knowledge in proton therapy (60%) and nurses’ responsibility (63.33%). Around half of them had adequate knowledge in  side effects (46.67%) and its causative agents (50%). Conclusion: The present study reveals the necessity for continuous nursing education for knowledge update regarding importance of nurses regarding proton therapy