title: Nurses' attitudes towards older people and working with older patients: an explanatory model.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To establish an explanatory model of registered nurses' attitudes towards older people and working with older patients.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Increasing demands for health-care from an ageing population will require a higher proportion of nurses who have positive attitudes towards older people and like working with older patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  A convenience sample of registered nurses (n = 579; 79.3% response rate) attending continuing professional education courses within a large university in London was surveyed from October to December 2011.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Registered nurses expressed positive attitudes towards older people and 89.7% reported positive attitudes towards working with older patients. The variables of self-ageing anxiety, attitudes towards health-care resource allocation, knowledge of ageing, ethnic group, job title, attitudes towards older patients and interaction between ethnic group and attitudes towards working with older patients explained 42.6% of the variance in attitudes towards older people. Factors, including attitudes towards older people, self-ageing anxiety, commitment to nursing, attitudes towards health-care resources allocation among older people and clinical specialty explained 16.7-34.3% of the variance in attitudes towards older patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The models identified several related factors that may help in the selection and management of nurses for caring older people.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings highlight the importance of investing in continuing education related to gerontological nursing and the ageing process so that there is a growing pool of registered nurses who wish to care for older patients.
authors.affiliation: PLA Stroke Care and Research Centre, The Second Artillery General Hospital PLA, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yun-E
authors.initials: YE
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Florence Nightingale School and Midwifery, King's College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Ian J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Norman
authors.affiliation: Florence Nightingale School and Midwifery, King's College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Alison E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: While
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D063506:Ageism / Q000523:psychology*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D015276:Health Care Rationing; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: attitudes; nurses; older patient; older people; working with nurse