The purpose of this study was to determine if nursing curricula meet the nutrition knowledge base needs for the professional nurse to promote disease prevention in high risk groups. The dietitian, physician, and other health care team members may not always be accessible when questions of nutritional concern come from the client. yet, nutrition and other disease prevention questions are often asked of the nurse, the main care giver.

This researcher evaluated final term student nurses for preparation in preventive nutrition knowledge and their educational preparation. Schools of Nursing were selected by stratified cluster sampling from State Boards of Nursing in two midwestern states to participate in the study.

Curriculum Administrators were interviewed and questionnaires were administered to the student nurses at each school of nursing. The questionnaire, a modification of the nutrition questionnaire of public health nurses by Henderson-Sabry, Hedley and Kirstine, was utilized to measure preventive nutrition outcomes taught in various nursing curricula. The interview and demographic information provided curriculum information for correlation. The data were analyzed and correlated according to the multivariate correlation coefficient: statistical test r. Significant variables (p = $<$.05) were further correlated by Scheffe's Analysis.

In response to the research questions, this study supports: (1) a nonsignificant relationship between a nurse theorist curriculum base and higher nutrition knowledge scores. However, no relationship existed between the education program and nutrition knowledge scores. (2) a nonsignificant difference between nutrition knowledge scores in the format where the nutrition course was taught separately rather than being integrated in the nursing curriculum. The students educated in separate 3 semester-hour courses had higher nutrition knowledge scores. (3) a significant relationship between nutrition knowledge scores and students with six to ten years of health care related work experience, who are 35-46 years of age, and have had more than 16 hours of clinical practice in the final term of nursing school.

This study identifies curriculum correlations that may promote preventive nutrition for new graduate nurses. Thus, these future nurses may be better prepared to implement disease preventive interventions in high risk groups.