Effect of Forensic Education and Autopsy Attitude of Nursing Student

Purpose: This research was designed to investigate the effects of forensic education and autopsy attitude of nursing students. Meth-ods: Data on autopsy attitude were determined and collected by means of a self-reporting questionnaire including 14 questions on perception of a need for an autopsy and 11 questions on resistance to autopsy, the respondents being 846 nursing students. The col-lected data were analyzed by means of an independent t-test with one-way ANOVA in an SPSS WIn 18.0 program. Results: The per-ception of a need for an autopsy was 4.06 on average and resistance to autopsy was 2.64 on average. The nursing students taking a forensic course showed a relatively higher level of perception of the need for an autopsy (t =-5.63, p <.001) than those not attending such a course (t = 2.93, p <.001). Perception of the need for an autopsy and resistance to autopsy show a negative correlation (r =-.382, p =.003). Conclusion: A forensic medicine course raises the level of perception of the need for an autopsy by nursing student