Purpose: The purpose of this study was to provide nursing intervention with basic data extracted through investigating self-care and nursing of lymphedema in patient who have had a mastectomy.
Method: The subjects for this study consisted of 214 mastectomy patients in 2 hospitals. The data were collected from December 1, 2004 to February 28, 2005. The instruments used for this study were both the Self-care Practice Scale by Cho, Myoung-Ok et al.(2003) which we modified and the Nursing Evaluation Scale developed by the researchers.
Results: The mean score of self-care on lymphedema was 59.96±12.46. The mean score of nursing was 25.64±9.25. Factors influencing the self-care were the postoperative period (F= 17.505, p<.001), the location of the tumor (F= 3.826, p=.023), menstruation (t=7.333, p= .007), and complications (F=5.427, p<.001).
Conclusion: Self-care and nursing care on the lymphedema management were shown to be lower than expected. Especially, the score of self-care was the lowest in the more than 3 year postoperative period. Therefore, the longer the postoperative period is, the more active management on lymphedema needs to be. Also, education should be given to both nurses and patients on the importance of self-care on lymphedema with mastectomies.
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