Objective: To explore the: attitudes of nursing students and faculty toward
people who are homeless. Methods: Data were collected from a convenience s
ample of 377 students and 45 faculty using attitude and knowledge scales. R
esults: Attitudes ranged from neutral to positive. Frequency of contact wit
h people who were homeless and knowledge about homelessness were inversely
related to attitude scores, but having helped a person who was homeless was
positively related to attitude. Conclusion: More than superficial contact
with people who are homeless is needed so that individuality is emphasized
and more effective professional health care can be given.