The effect of clients' family structure on nursing students' cognitive schemas and verbal behavior.
The primary purpose of this study was to investigate if nursing students stereotype clients on the basis of family status. In addition, the influence of information about the client's family status on students' predictions about the client's behavior, information sought from the client, recalled information, and verbal responses directed toward the client were examined. The participants were 83 nursing students from a large Midwestern university. They were randomly assigned to one of two groups. Brief written information about a female adult client with a vaginal discharge was provided and, after listening to an audiotaped interview between a nurse and the client, students completed a battery of questionnaires. They also responded verbally to questions asked by the audiotaped client. All information given to both groups was identical except for the client's family status. Results indicated that the client who was a married mother was perceived somewhat more positively than the unmarried mother client. Participants' perceptions were only somewhat consistent with cultural stereotypes about these family statuses. Information sought and information remembered about the client were greater when she was an unmarried mother. There were no differences in predictions of patients' behaviors and verbal responses.