title: 'Effective' Australian gerontology nurses: a repertory grid analysis.
abstract: Repertory grids were completed by gerontological nurses (N = 60) to elicit the personal constructs they used to characterize gerontological nurses, effective gerontological nurses and the extent to which participants believed themselves to be effective as nurses working in this specialist field. Analysis of pooled repertory grids indicated that the personal construct 'caring, compassionate, empathetic' was rated most highly as characteristic of gerontological nurses in general and of effective gerontological nurses. Cluster analysis of individual repertory grids showed no significant difference between self-perceptions of participants as effective gerontological nurses and the ideal gerontological nurses they would like to become. Other findings of this research indicate that a variety of aspects of gerontological nursing need improvement if negative perceptions of this area of nursing practice are to be altered.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Retsas
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wilson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001315:Australia; D002983:Clinical Competence; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005260:Female; D005851:Geriatric Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007587:Job Description; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology*; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires