Misconceptions about traumatic brain injury among nursing students: A cross-sectional study

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate nursing students' potential misconceptions about traumatic brain injuries and the relationship between these misconceptions and students' sociodemographic characteristics. Background: Although traumatic brain injuries have severe consequences, misconceptions about traumatic brain injury are widespread among healthcare professionals. Studying misconceptions about traumatic brain injury among nursing students can help enhance nursing curricula for better traumatic brain injury care and rehabilitation. Design: This is a cross-sectional observational study reported according to the STROBE guideline. Methods: We conducted a survey among nursing students in Morocco using a questionnaire "Common Misconceptions about Traumatic Brain Injury". A total of 550 nursing students from multiple nursing institutes in different cities in Morocco participated in the study. We calculated the average percentage of misconceptions for 7 different questionnaire domains. To study the relationship between misconceptions and sociodemographic factors, we used a t-test for independent samples and ANOVA, considering the total score for each participant. Results: Out of the 550 nursing students who participated in the study, most were female and the 20-21 years old category represented two-thirds of our sample. The domain related to "Amnesia" had the highest rate of misconceptions, followed by "Recovery", while the "brain damage" domain had the lowest rate of misconceptions. The overall mean score of misconceptions was higher than the value defined in our study as a reference cut-off. Interestingly, there were significant differences in the total score of misconceptions based on variables such as age, state of origin, city of the Institute and year of study. Conclusions: Misconceptions about traumatic brain injuries were prevalent among nursing students, which could have a negative impact on patient assessment, treatment and education. The findings indicate the need to improve the level of knowledge related to traumatic brain injury among nursing students and to strengthen the nursing curriculum in Morocco.