Student learning following an educational experience at an alcohol Rehabilitation Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Abstract

As was hypothesized, the nursing students who participated in the two week educational experience at a Rehabilitation Centre for alcoholics did increase their knowledge of alcoholism and did experience a change in some of their attitudes about alcoholic people. The importance of nurses examining their own feelings and attitudes toward alcoholism has been stressed by many authors: Nicolle (1963), Glud (1961), Burton (1964), Childress (1970), Holmes (1963) and Lewis (1956). Without a nonjudgmental and nonprejudiced attitude, it is felt that knowledge alone will be of very little value in terms of providing care to alcoholics and their families. Yuker (1956) states a prejudicial attitude is: “the tendency to group people into categories and to tend to perceive people in terms of their group membership, not as individuals. The prejudicial person will tend to prejudge others and react to them in a stereotyped fashion, judging them in terms of their group membership.” According to this statement, a person who has a prejudicial attitude toward alcoholics will believe that all alcoholics are alike. Statements made by the students who attended the center did, in fact, support this. They saw all alcoholics with the ‘skid row’ stereotype, and only after the experience did they remark on their individuality. Yuker goes on to add that the two most important factors in changing prejudicial attitudes are an awareness of the attitude and “close personal contact and meaningful interaction between the prejudicial person and members of groups toward which he is prejudiced” (1965). Both of these factors were a very major part of the learning experience provided for the students. With the students knowledge gain and evidence of a more accepting attitude toward the alcoholic, certain implications arise. 1. 1. That nursing educators examine curriculum content related to alcoholism. 2. 2. That, in view of the point which Yuker (1965) makes regarding the importance of an awareness of one's prejudicial attitudes, some mechanism be utilized whereby all nursing students can examine and become aware of the attitudes which they hold toward alcoholism and the alcoholic person. 3. 3. That as a participatory learning experience of the type and by the 16 students in the treatment group results in a reduction of negative stereotypes and prejudicial attitudes (Yuker, 1965), the possibility of similar learning experiences should be investigated and made available for as many students as possible. By providing such experiences for nursing students it is hoped that, in their future practise, they will be able to make a significant contribution to the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of this major social problem.