Students' knowledge of and attitudes towards primary health care

The aims of this study were to assess nursing students' knowledge of and attitudes towards primary health care using a newly developed Canadian instrument, the Primary Health Care Questionnaire (PHCQ), The instrument was refined for use in the UK prior to collecting data from 427 students in degree, Project 2000, health visitor and district nursing courses. Findings indicate that students in all programmes surveyed have been exposed to the concepts of primary health care. Students have acquired knowledge about primary health care and, generally, positive attitudes to the concepts. Significant differences were found between several student groups on both the knowledge and attitude measures. Although further psychometric evaluation of this new measure is recommended, the PHCQ shows promise as a valuable measure for use in assessing the move toward an increased emphasis on primary health care concepts in nursing eduation. © 1998 Harcourt Brace & Co. Ltd.