Abstract
Student nurses were asked, before and after classroom lecture on preparation and after practical training, to answer 20 questions on an original questionnaire which was prepared to gain an insight into their perceptions about preparation of children at different stages of training. An aggregate total of 641 duly completed forms were returned (221 before lecture, 229 after lecture and 191 after practical training). The Mann-Whitney test was performed to analyze the responses. A significant difference was observed in ten question items when responses before lecture were compared with those after lecture, in that the respondents became more interested in preparation after lecture. Comparison of a group of respondents who had an opportunity to prepare a child during practical training against the others who did not revealed a significant difference in four question items, with the former group being more preparation-orientated. The former group showed a significant difference in 13 question items when responses after lecture were compared with those after practical training. Significant differences were observed in 14 question items in the case of the latter group. In neither case, did the respondents generally become more interested in preparation after practical training. The results show that the student nurses' interest in preparing a child can sometimes wane. Collaboration with the clinical side to allow them to have an experience in preparation would help encourage the student nurses to reflect on preparation from the "rights of the child" point of view, and to develop their ethical sensitivity.
