Improving attitudes and knowledge toward organ donation among nursing students

Abstract

This study explored how an educational intervention related to organ donation affected the knowledge and attitude of a randomized two group sample of baccalaureate nursing students. A convenience sample of 101 subjects in the experimental group and 83 subjects in the control group were asked to complete a pretest. One week later the experimental group attended a one hour education intervention. Two weeks after intervention the pretest questionnaire was administered as a post test to the experimental and control groups. The introduction of specific education strategies improved the attitudes and knowledge base of the experimental group. SPSS results indicated a 40% increase in knowledge and an 8.5% increase in attitudes in the experimental group. Post-intervention knowledge was the sole significant predictor of post-intervention attitude scores. Results support nurse educator's use of a short term educational intervention as a means to improve knowledge and attitudes towards donation among nursing students.