Does self-directed learning address gaps in nursing student knowledge of Alzheimer's disease?

In the past two decades, deaths from stroke, heart disease and HIV decreased, whereas reported deaths from age-related Alzheimer's disease (AD) have increased. Future nurses will be caring for the rapidly escalating number of older adults facing increased AD risk, yet nursing students' knowledge has been shown to be limited regarding the age-related disease of Alzheimer's (and the most common dementia type) (Aljezawi et al., 2022; Mattos et al., 2015). In this pilot study, a quasi-experimental approach was used to examine undergraduate baccalaureate nursing students' basic knowledge about AD among two cohorts (N = 146). Testing occurred following an assigned self-directed learning activity as a means of providing the most current information regarding dementia. Pearson correlation and t-tests were applied in comparing student results in pre- and posttest surveys and investigating possible correlations between sociodemographic variables. Students in the 2020 group scored lower on ten of the thirty test items than the earlier 2018 cohort, suggesting that the method of self-directed learning, despite offering the most recent information, may be inadequate. To prepare nursing students to care for the increasing numbers of older adults at risk for Alzheimer's disease, curricula that are inclusive of the most recent advances in science surrounding dementia-related illnesses, and supplemented by faculty lectures, is recommended. This requires faculty themselves to be knowledgeable of the most recent advances in dementia risk, prevention, detection and management.