Medicina Comunitária e Educação em Saúde

Abstrato

The Impact of Adopting UNICEF Modules on Nursing Students Knowledge about Growth and Development: A Qualitative Study

Mahmoud Ayash and Yousef Aljeesh

Introduction: The growth and development phase is an essential and critical period of humans’ life, especially in the early stages. It's defined by most professionals as the interval from conception to eight years of age. This interval is vital and crucial for brain growth. In addition, these developmental years have a significant and lifelong impact on children. So, it's important for all children in these years to be well cared. The study aims to evaluate the impact of adopting UNICEF modules on nursing students' knowledge about growth and development. A qualitative study design was used to conduct the study. The study was conducted at the Islamic University of Gaza. 40 nursing students participated in the study. Methods: Four focus groups interviews were conducted on nursing students, two groups of the traditional curriculum and two groups who adopted the curriculum modified according to UNICEF modules for growth and development course. Results: Most of the students who adopted the new curriculum mentioned that they have a lot of knowledge about growth and development themes and subthemes while the students from the groups of the traditional curriculum mentioned that they have a knowledge deficit about it. Conclusion: The adopted curriculum modified according to UNICEF modules for growth and development course was effective in enhancing students' knowledge about growth and development.