Methods. A descriptive comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in October through November, 2021. In total, 115 nursing students participated in a survey where 63 students were from the first year and 52 from the fourth year of a nursing program. The response rate was 83.3%. The questionnaire was developed by the authors. The approval of the Bioethics Center of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences was obtained (No. BEC–SL(N)–17).

Results. The first year students were more likely to take care of dementia patients than the fourth year students (28.6% and 11.6%, respectively). The fourth year nursing students more often than the first year students noted that they were not planning to work in the elderly units (28.8% and 9.5%, respectively, P = 0.007) and felt not having enough patience to provide such care (42.3% and 7.9%, respectively, P = 0.001). Last year nursing students reported being better prepared to work with dementia patients than the first year students (mean ranks 64.85 and 52.35, respectively, P = 0.016) and more often highlighted the high need of hygiene assurance for dementia patience (mean ranks 65.92 and 51.46, respectively, P = 0.007).

Conclusions. The fourth year nursing students are less likely to take care of dementia patients than the first year nursing students. Students see the care of dementia patients challenging because of older age and altered mental status of the patient that creates psychological difficulties and requires much more patience in care. Effective learning strategies alongside with the good mentorship relationship and positive clinical training experience of students may help to encourage and motivate nursing graduates to care for dementia patients during their professional career.

Methods. A descriptive, cross-sectional study design was applied. The study was conducted in January to February 2016, at the Medical Academy of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences.

The study population consisted of 4th-year students from the Faculty of Nursing (32.3%) and the Faculty of Medicine (67.7%), who have completed Nursing Ethics and Medical Ethics courses at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. In total, 248 students participated in the study.

Results. Students from the Faculty of Nursing, compared with students from the Faculty of Medicine, were more often in favour of the fact that new assisted reproductive technologies are a medical breakthrough (P < 0.001) and the science of new assisted reproductive technologies must continue to evolve (P = 0.037). Students from the Faculty of Nursing, in comparison with students from the Faculty of Medicine, were also more likely to disagree with the statement that the effects of new assisted reproductive technologies have not been sufficiently investigated (P < 0.001) and new assisted reproductive technologies are a new type of business (P = 0.019). They were also more likely to question the need for stricter control over the use of new reproductive technologies (P = 0.020). Students from the Faculty of Medicine, in comparison with students from the Faculty of Nursing, had a more negative view on the legalisation of euthanasia when thinking about the beginning and the end of life management ethics (P = 0.008).

Conclusions. The study participants’ overall attitude towards new assisted reproductive technologies was positive. Students from the Faculty of Nursing had a slightly more liberal view on artificial insemination technology than students from the Faculty of Medicine. Medical and nursing students held similar moral positions on the beginning and the end of life management issues, except the legalisation of euthanasia, where medical students had a more negative position.