SummaryA 6-hour programmed unit on preoperative nursing care of the amputee was developed and tested. The sample consisted of 26 nursing students, 13 in the control group and 13 in the experimental group. Findings indicated that the group on which the programmed instruction was tested tended to do better on the immediate post-tests and to retain the learned material longer. Experiments of larger scope need to be conducted to confirm these findings.