Discrimination Against Older Adults and Related Behaviors Among Nurses: A Cross-sectional Study

With the population of older adults growing, nurses are increasingly likely to care for older patients. Ageist attitudes and behaviors in nurses may affect care quality, patient health, and care willingness. Ageism, referring to prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination against individuals or groups based on their age, has been widely studied in the literature, primarily in non-East Asian countries, and few studies have been designed to investigate ageism and ageist behaviors among hospital nurses in Taiwan.

This study was designed to investigate ageism and ageist behaviors among hospital nurses and identify the factors associated with ageist behaviors.

A cross-sectional approach was used, and 359 nurses in Taiwan were enrolled as participants. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire comprising sociodemographic characteristics, the Fraboni Scale of Ageism (FSA), and Relating to Older People Evaluation (ROPE).

The mean FSA scale score was 68.77 ± 8.83 and the mean proportion of ROPE was 0.39 ± 0.13, with 0.51 ± 0.16 for positive ageist behaviors and 0.34 ± 0.15 for negative ageist behaviors. Age, working unit, having taken age-related courses at school, and aging anxiety were all shown to relate significantly to ageist behaviors. In addition, a significant association was found between ageism and ageist behaviors. Predictors of ageist behaviors include age, working unit, having taken age-related courses at school, and ageism.

The findings of this study indicate discriminatory attitudes and behaviors toward older adults exist among hospital nurses and that nurses who are older, work in operating rooms or critical care units, have not taken age-related courses in school, or have higher levels of ageism are at higher relative risk of exhibiting ageist behaviors. The findings of this study may be used to guide nursing managers in developing tailored interventions for nurses across different age groups and work units to effectively prevent or mitigate ageist behaviors. Furthermore, nursing educators may use this information to design age-related courses to enhance student awareness of ageist behaviors.