title: Assessing ageist behaviours in undergraduate nursing students using the Relating to Older People Evaluation (ROPE) survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the prevalence of ageist behaviours amongst first-year undergraduate nursing students.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional survey design. The Relating to Older People Evaluation (ROPE) survey was administered to first-year undergraduate nursing students in one Australian university.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred and eighty-five students responded (response rate (RR) 85.3%). Up to 97.8% of students reported engaging in some ageist behaviours, with positive ageist behaviours ranked highest. Up to 87.5% of the cohort reported engaging in negative behaviours, such as talking slow and loud to an older person. Most students (63.2%) indicated that they would work in aged care in the future.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Nursing students report engaging in ageist behaviours that can have a negative effect on their future relationships with older patients. The ROPE survey can be used to make collective ageist behaviours explicit to students. Combining explicit collective information on ageist behaviours with educational strategies is proposed to address ageism in undergraduate nursing curricula.
authors.affiliation: Disciplines of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Frost
authors.affiliation: Disciplines of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
authors.forename: Kristen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ranse
authors.affiliation: Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University & Gold Coast Health, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Laurie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Grealish
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D063506:Ageism; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D020958:Australian Capital Territory; D003142:Communication; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019555:Physician-Nurse Relations; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: ROPE; ageism; behaviour; student nurse; undergraduate nurse