Impact of Nurse-Led Counselling on Knowledge, Attitude and Willingness to Undergo Pap Smear Screening Among Women in Selected Rural Communities

Introduction: In India, cervical cancer is a major cause of death for women, but it can be mainly avoided with routine screening. Due to a number of major obstacles, such as fear, sociocultural barriers, and a lack of awareness, the Pap smear test uptake rate in rural communities is still extremely low. The purpose of this study was to assess how a focused counselling intervention led by a nurse affected rural women's willingness to get a Pap smear. Methods: Quasi-experimental ? Non-equivalent control group design was adopted to evaluate the impact of nurse-led counselling among 150 women from selected rural communities. Participants were selected by using a purposive sampling technique and allocated in to experimental group (n=75) and a control group (n=75). Women in the Experimental Group received a structured, one-on-one counselling session from a trained nurse regarding Pap Smear Screening. Validated Questionnaire and Likert Scale were used respectively to collect data on awareness, attitude and willingness before and after the intervention. Data was analysed by using Descriptive and Inferential statistics. Results: The results of a paired t-test, shows a significant difference statistically, and are displayed in this table. With a very large (t =24.470) that indicates a very strong effect, the result is highly statistically significant. The null hypothesis is rejected because the p-value (.000) is significantly less than the conventional significance level of 0.05. Conclusion: The findings of the study concludes that nurse-led counselling has significant impact in enhancing the level of knowledge, attitude among women in rural communities. Willingness to undergo cervical cancer screening is greatly increased by nurse-led counselling, which is a powerful and successful method for overcoming important informational and emotional barriers. Improving preventive health outcomes for marginalised populations may depend heavily on incorporating this individualised counselling approach into primary healthcare.