The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge base of nursing students regarding the topic of genetics and how this may change as a student progresses through the nursing program. A 70 item multiple-choice and dichotomous survey was given to freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior nursing students at a university school of nursing in the eastern part of the United States. Two hundred and seventy five pre-licensure nursing students, 255 females and 18 males, comprised the sample.
A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed and the results concluded that there was a significant difference among the freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors in regards to having at least a ‘minimal’ knowledge or better of medical genetic terminology and conditions. Seniors reported a higher number of terms which they had at least a ‘minimal’ knowledge level or better than freshmen or sophomores. Also the juniors reported a higher number of terms which they had at least a ‘minimal’ knowledge level or better than sophomores
