Background: While investigations into racial cancer disparities have been conducted since cancer screening practices have begun, there are few studies that address barriers to cancer screening behaviors in African Americans particularly within the perspective of nursing. This concept is of particular concern because nurses have an opportunity and responsibility to impact the overall incidence and mortality of cancers.

Objective: The purposes of this integrative literature review were to simultaneously identify various barriers to early cancer detection and screening behaviors among African Americans and to evaluate the nursing interventions constituting the nurse’s role in overcoming these barriers.

Method: Research articles were identified using the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health Source (ProQuest), PubMed, and PsychINFO, published between 2000 and 2016. After inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, fourteen research studies were used in the data analysis.

Results: Fourteen studies focused on breast cancer and prostate cancer screening in African Americans. These studies examined barriers to early cancer detection in this population while also evaluating nursing interventions that addressed obstacles impeding cancer screening.  Continuing nurse education, the use of specially selected focus groups and decision aids, patient education, shared decision making care delivery model, and involvement in multidisciplinary teams have been found to be effective nursing interventions to address barriers to cancer screening in African Americans.

Conclusion: The literature research revealed the nurse’s role in improving cancer screening of African Americans through a wide range of nursing interventions. By targeting this disparate population in oncology, nurses are actively contributing to the continued decline in morbidity and mortality rates associated with cancer screening disparities among American Americans. Insurance coverage and other influential social determinants of health must be addressed during the development and implementation of theoretically-based nursing interventions for cancer screening in African Americans.