title: Undergraduate nursing students and the elderly: An assessment of attitudes in a Turkish university.
abstract: At times when populations are aging and nursing services for elders are needed, gerontology as a nursing specialty is not a highly sought career choice. The purposes of this study were to assess the overall attitudes of nursing students at a Turkish university toward the elderly and to identify the effects of demographic and social factors on attitudes. Using a non-experimental design, the Turkish version of the Kogan's Attitudes towards Old People (KAOP) Scale was given to undergraduate nursing students. Significant findings demonstrated that the older the student, the worse the attitude and that students willing to work with elders had significantly better total KAOP and better positive item scores than those not willing to work with elders. The findings support educational preparation as a major factor in shaping student attitudes. Geriatric education should be integral to nursing education to help ensure sustainability of nursing services for the elderly population.
authors.affiliation: a Decker School of Nursing , Binghamton University , Binghamton , New York , USA.
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Darling
authors.affiliation: b School of Nursing, Health Sciences University , Istanbul , Turkey.
authors.forename: Merdiye
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sendir
authors.affiliation: a Decker School of Nursing , Binghamton University , Binghamton , New York , USA.
authors.forename: Serdar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Atav
authors.affiliation: c Florence Nightingale School of Nursing , Istanbul University , Istanbul , Turkey.
authors.forename: Funda
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Buyukyilmaz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D063506:Ageism / Q000523:psychology*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002321:Career Choice; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D066262:Social Norms; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D014421:Turkey; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Nursing; attitudes; Turkey; KAOP