Undergraduate nursing students' knowledge of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias care

Abstract

Background: The increase in the number of people with Alzheimer's disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) will results in an increased need for nurses with up-to-date knowledge of ADRD and who are well-educated in ADRD care. Therefore, it is important to be sure that this topic is covered in the undergraduate nursing curriculum. Purpose: To assess undergraduate nursing students' knowledge of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias care. Method: Cross-sectional study carried out among nursing students at two universities in southern Spain. The University of Jaen (UJA)-Alzheimer's Care scale was used to measure their knowledge. Results: The mean age of the students was 21.39 years, and 83.2% of the 678 students were women. For students, the UJA Alzheimer's Care scale has a good fit and reliability of 0.99 for the items and 0.74 for the persons, according to the Rasch model. The mean knowledge score of nursing students was 15.33 (SD 3.69) out of 23; (95%CI: 15.06–15.61). The value of the latent variable (theta) was 1.16 (SD 1.21); (95%CI: 1.06–1.25). The factors positively associated with students' knowledge were the number of years in the program, experience in caring for a patient with ADRD during their placements, and the education on ADRD received in the nursing program as self-rated by the students. Conclusion: The UJA-Alzheimer's Care scale is a useful tool for measuring knowledge of ADRD care among nursing students in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries. Nursing students at the two universities reached moderate scores in the knowledge of ADRD care. More years in the nursing program, practical experience in clinical placements, and higher self-rated level of education on ADRD received during the program were associated with higher scores on knowledge.