Sponsored by:
Senator JOHN J. BURZICHELLI
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
SYNOPSIS
Requires nursing education on inflammatory breast cancer.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act requiring an approved nursing school curriculum to include education on inflammatory breast cancer and supplementing chapter 11 of Title 45 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this section, "inflammatory breast cancer" means a type of invasive breast cancer that blocks lymph vessels in the skin.
b. The curriculum in each educational program of professional nursing in this State shall include education on inflammatory breast cancer, which shall be developed in consultation with experts on the study, diagnosis, and treatment of inflammatory breast cancer.
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the 12th month next following enactment, except that the commissioner and the Board of Nursing may take any anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as may be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
The bill requires that every professional nursing curriculum include education on inflammatory breast cancer (IBC). IBC is a rare form of breast cancer, with symptoms and treatment different than more common breast cancers. IBC's symptoms include breast inflammation caused by cancer cells blocking lymph vessels in the skin, pitting and thickening of the skin, and localized pain and itch.
IBC often does not cause a breast lump and might not show up on a mammogram, which makes it harder to diagnose. It tends to occur in women under the age of 40, develop more frequently in Black women, appear in overweight women, and grow and spread more quickly than more common types of breast cancer.
As with any form of cancer, early diagnosis and treatment provide the best opportunities for successful outcomes. Expanding nursing curriculum to include education on IBC will improve the probability of early detection and allow for early stage treatment options that will improve survival rates.