Nursing students' opinions on interpersonal violence

This study examines the opinions of professional nursing students toward interpersonal violence and compares their responses to published expert opinion. The subjects included all nursing students enrolled in a selected associate degree program. A questionnaire, consisting of 23 opinion statements and coded to the subject's semester level, was prepared and distributed by the nursing faculty. Using a four point Likert scale, the subjects indicated their intensity of agreement to these statements. Also included were two open-ended questions regarding tie cause and prevention of violence and several inquires of demographic relevance. Frequency distributions were applied to all the responses with further statistical analysis of specific variables done through one-way analysis of variance, T-test, and correlation studies. The results showed a remarkable congruency of student opinion although the variables of ethnicity, previous work experience, being a parent, having a college degree, and age were associated with certain opinion choices. This study suggests that contemporary students enter nursing programs with appreciable educational and work related experiences and at a sophisticated level in regard to cognizance about sociological issues. The author suggests that nursing educators not only make curricular revisions in theory content and its clinical application but also in teaching methodology.