Abstract

Background
Nursing education involves the acquisition and retention of a large volume of theoretical and practical information. Students are expected to remember terminology, disease processes, assessment findings, nursing procedures, pharmacological information, and sequences of care. Mnemonic strategies are memory-support techniques that assist learners in encoding, organizing, retaining, and retrieving information. They may include acronyms, rhymes, songs, images, associations, organized notes, and other memory aids. In nursing education, such strategies may be particularly useful because students frequently encounter complex information that must be recalled accurately during examinations and clinical practice. The present study compared knowledge and practice regarding mnemonic strategies among first-year and final-year B.Sc. Nursing students and examined the relationship between knowledge and practice.
Aim
The study aimed to assess and compare the knowledge and practice regarding mnemonics among first-year and final-year B.Sc. Nursing students and to provide an information booklet on mnemonic strategies.
Methods
A quantitative evaluative research approach was adopted. The study included 80 B.Sc. Nursing students, comprising 40 first-year and 40 final-year students, selected from selected nursing colleges at Kolar using non-probability purposive sampling. Data were collected using a Structured Knowledge Questionnaire (SKQ) and Structured Practice Questionnaire (SPQ). The questionnaire assessed knowledge related to the definition and introduction of mnemonics, memory processes and types of memory, factors influencing memory, and methods for improving memory through mnemonic techniques. Practice was assessed using a structured practice instrument. An information booklet regarding mnemonic strategies was developed and provided following data collection. Descriptive statistics, comparative t testing, Pearson correlation, and chi-square analysis were used.
Results
Among first-year students, 35 (87.5%) demonstrated poor knowledge and 5 (12.5%) demonstrated average knowledge; none demonstrated good knowledge. Among final-year students, 31 (77.5%) had poor knowledge and 9 (22.5%) had average knowledge. The mean knowledge score was 12.25 ± 3.74 among first-year students and 13.68 ± 3.067 among final-year students, with a mean difference of 1.42 and t = 1.863. Practice was comparatively better. Favorable practice was observed among 31 (77.5%) first-year and 33 (82.5%) final-year students. The mean practice score was 32.13 ± 6.313 for first-year students and 37.25 ± 5.465 for final-year students, with a mean difference of 5.1 and t = 3.863. Pearson correlation for the combined sample was r = 0.042, p = 0.711, indicating no significant relationship between overall knowledge and practice. Correlations were also nonsignificant among first-year (r = 0.026, p = 0.874) and final-year (r = 0.145, p = 0.371) students.
Conclusion
The study demonstrated that knowledge regarding mnemonics was predominantly poor in both academic groups, whereas practice was predominantly favorable. Final-year students had higher mean knowledge and practice scores than first-year students. The absence of a significant correlation between knowledge and practice suggests that familiarity with mnemonic concepts alone may not determine their practical use. Structured educational strategies, repeated exposure, and integration of mnemonic techniques into nursing teaching may therefore be useful.