Student nurses perceptions and attitudes towards anatomy and physiology in Limpopo, South Africa

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to describe the perceptions and attitudes of student nurses towards anatomy and physiology. The study was conducted in the nursing education setting at three campuses of one college of nursing in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. A non-experimental, quantitative, descriptive research design was utilised, with a survey and a self-administered questionnaire as data collection method and instrument respectively. Probability sampling was utilised to select a sample of 2nd year student nurses registered for the 4-year diploma at the selected college of nursing. Data was analysed by means of Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24.0. The results revealed both positive and negative perceptions and attitudes towards anatomy and physiology. Positive attitudes and perceptions were that the subject is enjoyable, easy, interesting and relevant to nursing practice. Negative attitudes were shown towards the classroom as not being conducive to learning and towards teaching methods that were not interactive. Recommendations were made to include interactive, evidence-based teaching learning methods in anatomy and physiology.