Nurses' attitudes toward, knowledge of and years of experience with behaviour modification

Abstract

The study, “Attitudes, Knowledge and Years of Nursing Experience of a Sample of Nurses Towards Behaviour Modification,” was conducted by Valarie Spencer. The results were submitted in February, 1986. Administrative (n = 28), ward (n = 12) and student nurses (n = 39) were surveyed with a three part questionnaire. Results of the survey indicate that nurses generally possess a positive attitude towards behaviour modification and are slightly knowledgeable of behavior modification. A positive correlation between knowledge and attitude was observed, [underlined lowercase r] = 46, t(20) = 2.19, [underlined lowercase p] < .05. A one-day workshop in the principles and techniques of behavior modification was provided for an experimental group (n = 11) of ward nurses in order to demonstrate that attitudes towards behavior modification could be increased as a function of increased knowledge. Although attitude did increase, knowledge did not. These findings were related to an inconsistency between knowledge measured and knowledge acquired at the workshop.