Factors affecting nursing students' intention to work with older people in China

In Western countries, caring for older people was viewed as an unattractive area by nursing students. The literature reported a number of barriers, including ageism that contributed to this undesirable situation.

The purpose of this study was to explore factors affecting nursing students' intention to work with older people in a university in China.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 622 nursing students enrolled in a 4-year Bachelor of Nursing programme at the university. Data analysis methods mainly included Chi-Square test, Mann-Whitney test, factor analysis and logistical regression.

Working with older people was ranked as the second to least preferred area by nursing students. Ageist attitudes described as Prejudice was negatively associated with intention to work with older people; while students aged under-20 were more positively associated with an intention to work with older people.

Nursing curriculum should be designed to target ageist attitude, by promoting socialisation with older people and creating more supportive learning environments in the care setting of older people.