A KAP study on graduate nursing students of a tertiary health care teaching hospital in rural West Bengal, India.

Nursing personnel are the largest deliverer of health care worldwide, responsible for the constant care of in-patients. They are the most important link between doctors and patients. This study evaluated the knowledge, attitudes and practices of nursing students about different health care related aspects, which must have a profound impact on the quality service of any health care setup. Nursing students from a tertiary care teaching hospital from West Bengal, India were interviewed using a semi-structured pretested questionnaire. The subjects had sound knowledge regarding malaria, HIV disease transmission; possess positive attitude and good practices about medications. There was increased tendency of self-medication, which was alarming. The study showed improvement in knowledge of the nursing students during their nursing curriculum. It is clear from the present study that the efforts in spreading the knowledge about medicaments and disease have met with success to some extent. Furthermore tremendous effort has to be taken to convert the theoretical knowledge into 'safe practices'.