Effect of an aged wearing suit on nursing student's knowledge and attitude

The knowledge and attitude of health care providers are important and influential factors in providing care services to the elderly and need to be considered during the training course. Simulation in geriatric nursing education can be an opportunity for learners to experience the restrictions of the elderly. The present study was conducted to determine the effect of training through simulation on the attitude and knowledge of nursing students in elderly care.

This study was quasi-experimental with two experimental and control groups of pre and post-test, which was conducted on 70 nursing students of the 5th semester (two groups of 35 people). For the experimental group, the elderly simulation suit was worn for two hours, which was designed by the researcher and created sensory, physical, and motor restrictions similar to the elderly for students. Before and after the study, Kogan's attitudes toward older people scale and Palmore's "facts on aging quiz" were completed by students. The data were analyzed using an independent t-test and paired t-test using SPSS version 16 software.

The mean scores of students' knowledge in the experimental and control groups had no significant difference at the beginning of the study (p < 0.05). But the mean scores of knowledge in the experimental group before and after the intervention was (9.2 ± 2.6) and (15.3 ± 3.5), respectively, and in the control group before and after the intervention was (10.4 ± 2.9) and (11.3 ± 2.6), respectively, which had a statistically significant difference (p = 0.0001). The mean scores of students' attitudes in the experimental and control groups had no significant difference at the beginning of the study (p < 0.05). The mean scores of attitude in the experimental group before and after the intervention was (114.69 ± 8.4) and (157.31 ± 10.7), respectively and in the control group before and after the intervention was (113.34 ± 13.6) and (108.5 ± 16.6), respectively, which was significantly different (p = 0.0001).

Based on the findings, the experience of aging restrictions through simulation has improved the knowledge and attitude of nursing students towards the elderly. Nursing education requires the growth of attitudinal skills, individuals' beliefs, and creating empathy among them, so creating simulation opportunities can assist nursing students in the educational processes.