RESUMEN

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare knowledge level of those clinical nurses who received HPV vaccine and those who did not and their perception of the relatedness of HPV vaccine to causes of cervical cancer. METHODS: A total of 249 clinical nurses were surveyed from June to July, 2009. The questionnaire originally developed by Kim & Ahn (2007) examined HPV-related knowledge originally and the tool for perception of the causes of cervical cancer was originally developed by Kim (1993). The total number of subjects equaled to: vaccination group of 52 (20.9%) and non-vaccination group of 197 (79.1%). RESULTS: Vaccination group showed significantly higher score of both knowledge of HPV vaccination and the perception of the cause of cervical cancer in comparison to the nonvaccination group at (p<.05). Among 4 subscales of the perception of causes of cervical cancer, destiny and constitution subscale scores were significantly different between the two groups at (p<.05). CONCLUSION: Clinical nurses need to constantly update with current knowledge of HPV and be prepared with currently changing cancer prevention strategies, especially in cervical cancer.