Cancer Screening
Course #91994 - $60 -
- Participation Instructions
- Review the course material online or in print.
- Complete the course evaluation.
- Review your Transcript to view and print your Certificate of Completion. Your date of completion will be the date (Pacific Time) the course was electronically submitted for credit, with no exceptions. Partial credit is not available.
Lung, colorectal, breast, and pancreatic cancer are the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Together, these cancers accounted for an estimated 44% of all cancer-related deaths, or more than 272,000 deaths, in 2025. This course provides an overview of the major issues in cancer screening, appropriate adherence to guidelines and barriers to adherence, controversies regarding guideline criteria, and the effect of screening on mortality. Also included are detailed recommendations for the five major cancer types for which guidelines on screening and counseling have been developed: breast, cervical, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancers. Recommendations for other cancers of concern are included as well. Lastly, strategies to enhance cancer screening are also discussed.
This course is designed for physicians, physician assistants, and nurses who may intervene to improve cancer screening rates.
The purpose of this course is to concisely provide the evidence-based guidelines and recommendations for cancer screening in order to improve healthcare professionals' adherence and ultimately increase overall screening rates, leading to improvements in public health.
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
- Identify trends in cancer screening for the most common cancers.
- Discuss disparities in adherence to cancer screening guidelines, including the impact of race/ethnicity, gender, age, socioeconomic status, and other factors.
- Evaluate controversies in cancer screening recommendations and the creation of guidelines.
- Describe breast cancer screening recommendations and possible factors affecting nonadherence.
- Outline guideline recommendations for cervical cancer screening.
- Identify colorectal cancer screening guidelines.
- Assess recommendations for lung cancer screening and possible adherence issues.
- Summarize available prostate cancer screening recommendations.
- Describe oral cancer screening recommendations.
- Evaluate guideline recommendations for ovarian cancer screening and factors affecting adherence.
Mary Franks, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and NetCE Nurse Planner. She works as a Nurse Division Planner for NetCE and a per diem nurse practitioner in urgent care in Central Illinois. Mary graduated with her Associate’s degree in nursing from Carl Sandburg College, her BSN from OSF Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing in 2013, and her MSN with a focus on nursing education from Chamberlain University in 2017. She received a second master's degree in nursing as a Family Nurse Practitioner from Chamberlain University in 2019. She is an adjunct faculty member for a local university in Central Illinois in the MSN FNP program. Her previous nursing experience includes emergency/trauma nursing, critical care nursing, surgery, pediatrics, and urgent care. As a nurse practitioner, she has practiced as a primary care provider for long-term care facilities and school-based health services. She enjoys caring for minor illnesses and injuries, prevention of disease processes, health, and wellness. In her spare time, she stays busy with her two children and husband, coaching baseball, staying active with her own personal fitness journey, and cooking. She is a member of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and the Illinois Society of Advanced Practice Nursing, for which she is a member of the bylaws committee.
Contributing faculty, Mary Franks, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
John M. Leonard, MD
Margo A. Halm, RN, PhD, NEA-BC, FAAN
The division planners have disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Sarah Campbell
The Director of Development and Academic Affairs has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
The purpose of NetCE is to provide challenging curricula to assist healthcare professionals to raise their levels of expertise while fulfilling their continuing education requirements, thereby improving the quality of healthcare.
Our contributing faculty members have taken care to ensure that the information and recommendations are accurate and compatible with the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. The publisher disclaims any liability, loss or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents. Participants are cautioned about the potential risk of using limited knowledge when integrating new techniques into practice.
It is the policy of NetCE not to accept commercial support. Furthermore, commercial interests are prohibited from distributing or providing access to this activity to learners.
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The role of implicit biases on healthcare outcomes has become a concern, as there is some evidence that implicit biases contribute to health disparities, professionals' attitudes toward and interactions with patients, quality of care, diagnoses, and treatment decisions. This may produce differences in help-seeking, diagnoses, and ultimately treatments and interventions. Implicit biases may also unwittingly produce professional behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that reduce patients' trust and comfort with their provider, leading to earlier termination of visits and/or reduced adherence and follow-up. Disadvantaged groups are marginalized in the healthcare system and vulnerable on multiple levels; health professionals' implicit biases can further exacerbate these existing disadvantages.
Interventions or strategies designed to reduce implicit bias may be categorized as change-based or control-based. Change-based interventions focus on reducing or changing cognitive associations underlying implicit biases. These interventions might include challenging stereotypes. Conversely, control-based interventions involve reducing the effects of the implicit bias on the individual's behaviors. These strategies include increasing awareness of biased thoughts and responses. The two types of interventions are not mutually exclusive and may be used synergistically.