Introduction:

The shutdown of educational institutions worldwide due to the global COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the need to provide distance education, which changed the appreciation and attitude of university students about certain aspects of education. Whether this change affects attitudes towards research is unknown.

Objective:

To analyze the attitude of nursing students towards research in a distance education context.

Methodology:

This is a descriptive cross-sectional correlational study conducted in 376 students enrolled in all the academic years of nursing at a Mexican university; students from other schools, students on academic stay or those who dropped out were excluded. Socio-demographic variables were measured and the questionnaire about attitude towards research of undergraduate students was applied after obtaining the approval of an ethics committee (1/2021) and authorization of the participants by informed consent.

Results:

Students had a poor to fair attitude towards research; 69-71% of the participants stated that the main obstacles regarding research were lack of time and knowledge; they considered that doing research is stressful and tedious; 96-98% of the participants thought that knowing how to cite, write and organize were the main skills to take into account when doing research, having a sense of ethics and flexibility of thought. Students showed a decline in good attitude as they progressed through the years at the university, with p<0.05.

Conclusions:

The attitude towards research of distance nursing students was poor to fair, so this study lays the groundwork for future interventions, in which an attempt is made to improve the attitude and disposition regarding distance research.