Poreddi V, Pashapu DR, Kathyayani BV, Gandhi S, El-Arousy W, Math SB. Br. J. Nurs. 2016; 25(5): 264-268.
Affiliation
Additional Professor, Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (Institute of National Importance), Bangalore, India.
BACKGROUND: Child abuse and neglect are global phenomena. Research on knowledge of and attitudes towards child abuse and neglect among nursing students in India is limited.
AIM: To investigate undergraduate nursing students' knowledge of and attitudes towards child abuse and neglect.
METHODS: A descriptive design was adopted for the study, in which 158 nursing students participated by responding to a standardised questionnaire.
RESULTS: The findings revealed that students' knowledge of child abuse and neglect is inadequate, as the total mean (M) score was 13.84±4.35 (M±standard deviation (SD)). The total attitude score of 50.37±6.196 (M±SD) indicated participants' positive attitudes towards prevention of child abuse and neglect. However, there was a negative relation between age and attitudes towards and knowledge of child abuse. Older students scored higher on the total attitude and knowledge scale compared with younger students.
CONCLUSION: The study findings support the hypothesis that nursing education programmes need to improve the curricular content related to the assessment and reporting of suspected child abuse and neglect, and prevention strategies to improve the wellbeing of children. Curricular changes have the potential to provide nurses with an opportunity to reduce the prevalence of child abuse and neglect in India.