Abstract:

Objective: The aim of this study is to examine the attitudes of nursing students towards people with special needs and the influencing factors. Materials and Methods: The population of the descriptive study consists of 415 students studying at a nursing department at a university. 255 students were included in the study. Data were collected online using the socio-demographic form and an Attitudes towards Disabled Persons Scale. Results: It was determined that 69.4% of the students participating in the study were women, 29% were in the 1st and 3rd grade were in 29%. 15.7% of the students have people with special needs in their family/close environment. The rate of students who have friendships with those people is 7.8%. It was determined that the average score of nursing students’ attitudes towards those people was 58.79 ± 13.14. It was determined that the attitude of male students was significantly higher (p<0.001). Conclusion and recommendations: Nursing students’ attitude towards people with special needs is medium. It was found that the attitudes of male students, those with special needs in their family/close environment, and students who have a close friend with special needs were higher. Nursing students are expected to have a more positive attitude towards those who are at a disadvantage in society. For this, it is thought that making necessary arrangements in educational curricula, organizing various activities in social clubs of non-governmental organizations and universities, including nursing students, will have positive contributions to attitude towards people with special needs.

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