Abstract:

Aim: This study was conducted to determine the effect of health promotion course on nursing students' healthy life style behaviors and health perceptions. Subject and Method: One group pretest-posttest design was used in the study. The population of the study consisted of 65 nursing students who took the Health Promotion course. Without applying any further criteria, the whole population was included in the study. The sample consisted of 46 students (70.7%). Data were collected using “Personal Information Form”, “Healthy Life Style Behavior Scale II” and “Perception of Health Scale”. The data were evaluated via descriptive statistics, Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test and Paired two groups t-test. Results: It was determined that there was statistically significant differences between the pretest and posttest score means of Healthy Life Style Behaviors Scale II, “physical activity”, “nutrition” and “stress management” subscales (p<0.05); however, there was no statistically significant difference between the pretest score mean and posttest score mean of Health Perception Scale (p> 0.05). Conclusion: It was determined that the Health Promotion course improved students' healthy life style behaviors. It is recommended to continue delivering the courses aiming at providing healthy life style behaviors in the nursing curriculum and these courses should be extended to all departments of universities.

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