Positively influencing student nurse attitudes toward caring for elders: results of a curriculum assessment study

Exposure to gerontological content has been shown to positively influence student attitudes toward elders. Our School of Nursing recently phased out one curriculum while implementing a new integrated curriculum. In the former, aging content was presented in a first-semester senior course. In the new curriculum, students were introduced to aging concepts in first-semester junior courses and additional content was integrated throughout the program. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the new integrated curriculum compared to the former in positively influencing attitudes toward caring for elders. An attitudes questionnaire was administered at 3 time points to students in each curriculum. Both groups, but particularly the integrated group, demonstrated statistically significant improvements in attitudes over time.