Current statistics regarding breastfeeding rates in the United States support the need for nursing programs to address the topic of breastfeeding education. Research has shown that nurses, the largest group of health care professionals, influence women’s breastfeeding experiences. The literature informs us that although nurses most often have positive attitudes towards breastfeeding, they lack knowledge about breastfeeding support. The purpose of this study was to describe the current state of breastfeeding education in university nursing programs, determine the knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy scores of senior nursing students, and identify factors associated with higher knowledge and attitude scores. Albert Bandura’s Social cognitive theory, as applied to behavioral change, provided the theoretical framework for the study. Results from a 78-item Web-based national survey of 385 senior nursing students from 36 randomly selected U.S. baccalaureate nursing programs were analyzed. The use of traditional modalities for teaching and evaluating breastfeeding knowledge (lecture by nursing faculty, use of a textbook, written test questions) prevailed. Of greatest surprise and concern, despite low knowledge scores, students were confident in their ability to support breastfeeding. Personal breastfeeding intent explained the greatest variance for both knowledge and attitude scores while program characteristics explained the least. Instructional characteristics associated with higher knowledge and attitude scores were feedback to students and student utilization of social supports such as LaLeche League.Recommendations include structured feedback from faculty, such as evaluation of the nursing student’s performance on a standardized breastfeeding support simulation and modeling the use of breastfeeding social supports.
Session #1036 - Sustaining Breastfeeding: Issues and Research
The 29th Annual MNRS Research Conference (April 1-4, 2005)