Abstract

As the population ages, nurses must be prepared to provide care for the large number of people with Alzheimer's disease (PWAD). Research is limited on nursing students and people with AD, whether nursing education prepares students to care for this population, or the best methods to educate students in an insightful and collaborative environment. The aim of this mixed methods design study was to determine the effects of educational experiences on nursing students' knowledge and attitudes towards people with AD. The qualitative piece identified factors that influenced and explained differences in nursing students' knowledge and attitudes surrounding the care of people with AD. Findings indicated that students involved in an AD clinical experience had significant improvement in both AD knowledge and attitudes towards PWAD compared to students who completed the AD module and control group. Four themes emerged from exploring knowledge and attitudes surrounding the care of PWAD. Recommendations were provided to enhance the current nursing curriculum by integrating AD clinical experiences for nursing students to gain and assimilate AD knowledge to provide care for PWAD.

Date of publication

Spring 6-6-2014

Document Type

Dissertation

Language

english

Persistent identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/10950/216

Included in

Nursing Commons

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