ATTITUDES AND INTERESTS OF STUDENTS AND APPLICANTS FROM 2 BRANCHES OF THE BRITISH NURSING PROFESSION

The attitudes and interests of psychiatric students and applicants are compared with general nursing students and applicants using the Attitudes to Treatment Questionnaire (ATQ), the Wilson‐Patterson Attitude Inventory (WPAI) and the Direction of Interest Questionnaire (DIQ) The student groups are also examined in respect of changes in attitude (ATQ) and interests (DIQ) during their training Results indicate significant differences between nurse applicants for attitudes to treatment and direction of interest, the psychiatric applicants being more liberal in their attitudes to treatment and less practical in their interests Similarly, psychiatric students demonstrated more liberalism in their attitudes to treatment as well as less conservatism than general students No differences emerged for students in terms of direction of interest Differences within groups occurring during training were complex The implications of these findings are discussed and some suggestions made for further research. Copyright © 1991, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved