Objective:

To determine the impact of a course aimed at the care of persons with drug dependence on the beliefs and intentions of drug use among bachelor nursing students.

Materials and methods:

A quasi-experimental study conducted with a non-equivalent comparison group composed of 210 Mexican students of both sexes. Two Likert-type instruments were used to measure the beliefs and intentions of drug use, before and after a semester-long course.

Results:

At the end of the study, a significant interaction was found (F = 3.56, p = 0.050, η2p = 0.025), which suggests a greater decrease in beliefs in favor of drug use among students who took the course on drug addiction. Regarding drug use intentions, a general decrease was observed in the entire sample (F = 10.13, p = 0.002, η2p = 0.059).

Conclusions:

Courses on the care of drug addiction can have beneficial effects on nursing students by modifying beliefs and intentions to carry out unhealthy behaviors such as the use of substances. These results demand to verify if the effects remain beyond the completion of university education.