Attitudes toward aging: implications for a caring profession.
With the predicted increase in the age of Canada's overall population, it is estimated that by 2020, up to 75% of nurses' time will be spent with older adults. It is recognized that care of older adults occurs in a cultural context in which the older members of society are poorly valued, often referred to as ageism. Based on the premise that attitudes affect behavior and knowledge acquisition, a comparative cross-sectional study using the Attitudes Toward Old People scale measured nursing students' attitudes at different points in a baccalaureate nursing program. Although analysis of variance revealed no significant differences in students' attitudes during the 4 years, post hoc analysis revealed a drop in positive attitudes and a rise in negative attitudes at the beginning of the second and fourth years of the baccalaureate program.
Holroyd
Ann
A
Vancouver Island University, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Dahlke
Sherry
S
Fehr
Cindy
C
Jung
Piera
P
Hunter
Andrea
A
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel / Q000208:ethnology; D002170:Canada; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003479:Curriculum; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate / Q000458:organization & administration; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D005851:Geriatric Nursing / Q000193:education; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009341:Negativism; D015402:Nursing Education Research; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D011287:Prejudice; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires