Objective

To compare the attitudes of nursing students towards alcohol consumption, alcoholism, and alcohol-related diseases, in two universities: one in Mexico and the other in Colombia.

Method

This is a quantitative, comparative, and transversal study with a sample of 231 legal aged senior nursing students from two public universities of Latin-America who volunteered to participate. The Scale of Attitudes Towards Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Persons with Alcohol Related Diseases (SATAAP) instrument was administered in conjunction with a sociodemographic and academic survey. SPSS 22 and Excel were used to carry out the calculations. The corresponding bioethical principles were respected.

Results

The perception of students regarding to persons with alcohol-related diseases (p = 0.003) was not the same between the two universities, suggesting that differences in their views about strength of will and self-care competence, among other characteristics could be present. It was also found that the school formation gives the students tools to address situations of fear, insecurity, and frustration, thus fostering better self-care (p = 0.045).

Conclusions

The present research builds on the nursing knowledge because it shows the importance of the attitude towards the use of alcohol, as well as its associated relationship between good school formation and better health care provided.