Profile and Experiences of Nursing Students related to Tuberculosis: An Evaluation of Health Education

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the sociodemographic profile of nursing students and their experiences with tuberculosis (TB) during undergraduate nursing at a public university. Method: Quantitative-descriptive research, carried out in the Undergraduate Nursing Course of a public university, in 2019, with the participation of 30 5th year students, who answered a self-administered questionnaire. It was used percentage and Pearson's Chi-square for statistical analysis. Results: The results show that the majority of academics never participated in courses or scientific events, as well as few had experiences with extracurricular activities. It was found that 76.6% underwent nursing consultation for TB patients; 70% did Directly Observed Treatment administration / supervision; 53.3% requested sputum tests; 50% scheduled and monitored patients' attendance; 33.3% had BCG vaccination; 23.3% advised on sputum collection; 20% applied and read tuberculin tests; 20% made a search for TB cases in the general clientele and no academic made a home visit to a patient with TB, the latter being a worrying fact. Thus, they consider to be partially prepared for the care of clients with tuberculosis. Conclusion: It is concluded that the academic experiences regarding tuberculosis need to be intensified and more valued by universities, just as there is a need to innovate teaching-learning methods and implement new methods for evaluating curricular axes in order to detect possible flaws in their structure.