Attitudes of nurses and student nurses towards working with older people and to gerontological nursing as a career in Germany, Scotland, Slovenia, Sweden, Japan and the United States.

Kydd, Angela; Engstr�m, Gabriella; Touhy, Theris A.; Newman, David; Skela-Savi?, Brigita; Hvali?-Touzery, Simona; Zurc, Joca; Galatsch, Michael; Ito, Mio; Fagerberg, Ingegerd

Abstract

The aim of this study was to describe attitudes towards caring for older people among nurses and student nurses in six participating countries. Working with older people has historically had a negative profile and, with a global rise in the numbers of older people and a global shortage of nurses, it is essential to recruit nurses into this area. This study gathered data from six countries to explore nurses' and student nurses' attitudes to nursing older people and to gerontological nursing as a career. A convenience sample of 1064 nursing students and 2585 nurses in six countries answered the Multifactorial Attitudes Questionnaire (MAQ), designed to elicit attitudes towards caring for older people and to the esteem that comes with working in this field. The MAQ consists of seven positive and thirteen negative statements, and uses a Likert scale. A higher total score indicates a more positive attitude. Differences in attitudes among the six counties was observed for both nursing students and for nurses ( < 0.001). Nursing students in Scotland and the USA had the highest mean scores, and Slovenia and Sweden were the countries with the lowest mean scores. The highest scores for nurses were reported in Scotland and Sweden, and the lowest scores in Germany and Japan. From the findings, it is suggested that formal nursing education to students between 18 and 29 years of age has high importance for positive attitudes towards working with older people.

Citation

KYDD, A., ENGSTRÖM, G., TOUHY, T.A., NEWMAN, D., SKELA-SAVIČ, B., HVALIČ-TOUZERY, S., ZURC, J., GALATSCH, M., ITO, M. and FAGERBERG, I. 2014. Attitudes of nurses and student nurses towards working with older people and to gerontological nursing as a career in Germany, Scotland, Slovenia, Sweden, Japan and the United States. International journal of nursing education, 6(2), pages 177-185.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 31, 2014
• Online Publication Date: Jul 31, 2014
• Publication Date: Dec 31, 2014
• Deposit Date: Mar 4, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 4, 2021
• Journal: International journal of nursing education
• Print ISSN: 0974-9349
• Electronic ISSN: 0974-9357
• Publisher: Indian Journals (Diva Enterprises)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 6
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 177-185
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5958/0974-9357.2014.00630.8
• Keywords: Nurses; Nursing students; Gerontological nursing; Older patients
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1239833
• Additional Information: This journal is no longer hosted by the publisher, so the DOI is no longer functional.