The effect of a curricular education on nursing students' knowledge of and attitudes toward people living with dementia – a quasi-experiment.

The number of individuals with dementia is on the rise, highlighting the need to create effective educational methods that can improve nursing students' understanding and attitude toward this group of people who require special care. Explore the effectiveness of introducing a new curricular course in improving nursing students' knowledge of and attitudes toward people living with dementia and the provision of care for them. A pretest – posttest quasi-experimental design was used. After the introduction of dementia lectures, both study groups had a significant improvement in knowledge and attitude toward people living with dementia (P ≤.05). Adding clinical experience did not significantly enhance knowledge. It improved attitudes, but the result was not statistically significant (P >.05). The introduction of a new curricular course had a positive impact on the knowledge of and attitudes of nursing students toward people living with dementia. These findings emphasize the importance of incorporating dementia-focused education to enhance the quality of care provided by future nursing professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]