Sarman Abdullah, Can Veysel, Tuncay Suat, Loutfy Ahmed
Department of Pediatric Nursing, Faculty of Health Science, Bingöl University, Bingöl, Turkey.
Faculty of Health Science, Van Yüzüncü Yıl University, Van, Turkey.
Nurs Health Sci. 2025 Jun;27(2):e70128. doi: 10.1111/nhs.70128.
Animal-assisted intervention (AAI) integrates animals into health, education, and human services for therapeutic benefits. This study examined nursing students' perspectives and affinity for animals regarding AAI in pediatric care. A descriptive cross-sectional design was used, involving nursing students from a university's Health Sciences Faculty. Data were collected via a sociodemographic form and the Öney Animal Love Scale and analyzed using the R programming language. Results showed that 62.6% of participants were female, 30% were first-year students, and 18.7% owned pets. While 83.7% lacked prior AAI knowledge, 4.2% had used AAI. Despite limited awareness, 72.7% found AAI effective, and 52.2% considered it beneficial for children. A mediation analysis indicated that pet ownership positively influenced students' affinity for animals and belief in AAI's effectiveness. Prior AAI experience strengthened this relationship. In conclusion, nursing students had limited AAI knowledge but recognized its benefits. Pet ownership and prior exposure to AAI were key factors in fostering positive attitudes toward its role in pediatric care.
动物辅助干预（AAI）将动物融入健康、教育和人类服务领域以获得治疗益处。本研究调查了护理专业学生对儿科护理中AAI的看法以及对动物的喜爱程度。采用描述性横断面设计，研究对象为一所大学健康科学学院的护理专业学生。通过社会人口学表格和Öney动物喜爱量表收集数据，并使用R编程语言进行分析。结果显示，62.6%的参与者为女性，30%为一年级学生，18.7%拥有宠物。虽然83.7%的人此前缺乏AAI知识，但4.2%的人曾使用过AAI。尽管认知有限，但72.7%的人认为AAI有效，52.2%的人认为它对儿童有益。中介分析表明，拥有宠物对学生对动物的喜爱程度以及对AAI有效性的信念有积极影响。此前的AAI经历强化了这种关系。总之，护理专业学生的AAI知识有限，但认识到其益处。拥有宠物和此前接触过AAI是培养对其在儿科护理中作用的积极态度的关键因素。
