The impact of violence against women courses on the attitudes of nursing students toward violence against women and their professional roles

This study determines whether the inclusion of violence against women (VAW) education in nursing curricula would improve attitudes and professional help toward victims of violence. Research was carried out as cross-sectional and comparative quasi-experimental study. The research included 524 students; 262 students were trained and 262 were untrained. Data were collected using the Sociodemographic and Personal Charaterics Form, Attitude toward Violence Scale (AVS), and Attitude toward Occupational Roles in Violence Scale (AORVS). The overall average AVS score of students was 30.81 ± 8.68 and overall average AORVS score was 25.50 ± 6.86. There were significant differences in AVS scores and AORVS scores between the experimental and control groups. The scale and sub-dimension mean scores of the students who received the course were significantly lower; it was determined that obtaining low scores reflected divergence from traditionalism and increase in modern opinions in the evaluation of the scales. It is clear that undergraduate courses are an ideal opportunity to initiate changes in attitudes toward intimate partner violence (IPV) and equip graduates with comprehensive knowledge of IPV. This study demonstrates that meeting professional and information needs about VAW by revising nursing curricula is important. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd