Wilkie, Karyn (2011) An Investigation into Undergraduate Nursing Students' Therapeutic Attitude Towards Patients who use Illicit Drugs. Coursework Masters thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
The aim of this study was to examine nursing students’ therapeutic attitude to patients who use illicit substances, and the relationship and contribution of their personal characteristics, in addition to their attitudes to illicit substances. By understanding health professionals' attitudes and beliefs about practice with patients who use illicit substances, and the barriers to achieving best practice with this cohort, necessary training can reduce barriers to the access of health care by illicit substance users. Stigma associated with illicit substance use may result in discriminatory practices and has been identified as a primary reason this cohort does not engage or may cease medical treatment prematurely. Undergraduate nursing students (n = 95) participated by completing the Therapeutic Attitudes Scale, as the criterion variable, and the predictor variables, Disapproval of Drug Scale (DDU) and demographic questions about personal characteristics. A factor analysis reduced the DDU to two factors, ‘rejection of marijuana made legal’ and ‘drug use is a vice’. A hierarchical regression revealed personal characteristics to be a statistically significant predictor of therapeutic attitude. However, ‘drug use is a vice’ and ‘rejection of marijuana made legal’ was not a statistically significant predictor of therapeutic attitude. The total variance explained by the model as a whole was 15.9%. The hypothesis that no significant correlation between participants’ scores on personal characteristics, and a significant negative correlation between scores on the DDU and scores on the therapeutic attitude scale, was not supported. Further research with larger samples is necessary before findings can be generalised.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Coursework Masters) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Sciences - Department of Psychology (Up to 30 Jun 2013) |
| Supervisors: | Liam Hendry |
| Qualification: | Master of Psychology (Clinical) |
| Date Deposited: | 10 Nov 2025 01:38 |
| Last Modified: | 10 Nov 2025 01:38 |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52886 |
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