NURSING STUDENTS' ATTITUDES TOWARD OLDER ADULTS in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify California BSN nursing students’ attitudes toward older adults and their potential career choices in nursing practice.
Methods: Using web-based surveys, a descriptive study was conducted exploring nursing students’ attitudes toward older adults in three state universities with BSN programs in Southern California.
Results: A total of 177 nursing students from 3 nursing schools participated in the survey.
The mean age was 24 (SD=5.8) years old. Majority of participants were female (90%). Race/ethnicity of participants were very diverse including Caucasian non-Hispanic (44%), Asian non-Hispanic (40%), Hispanic/Latino (8.5%), and other (7.5%). US born students were 81%. Majority (89%) reported that English was preferred language. The mean attitude score was 2.05 (SD=0.56) out of 6, the higher, the more positive attitude. Male students were more likely to show positive attitudes toward older adults than female students (p=.02). Students who communicated regularly with older adults showed more positive attitudes toward older adults than those who never or rarely communicated with older adults (p=.05). Approximately 78.5% students reported that they were confident in their ability to provide care for older adults. However, 16.4% of students responded that they would choose to primarily work with older adults for their future career, and 1.7% wanted to work in long-term care settings.
Conclusions/Implications: The findings from the study demonstrated that majority of nursing students showed unfavorable attitudes toward older adults and that few students considered care for older adult as their future nursing career choice. Further studies are recommended identifying nursing students’ perceptions toward aging and their care choices as well as developing appropriate teaching strategies to improve care competency for older adults.