Nursing students' attitudes toward sexually active older persons

This study investigated the attitudes of senior baccalaureate nursing students toward geriatric sexuality. Two separate experiments used vignettes as an unobtrusive measure of attitudes toward sexual activity in an older man or woman who was depicted as either married or widowed. All subjects read a vignette concerning a 68-year-old person who was temporarily living in a nursing home. Half read that the person was sexually active; there was no mention of sexual activity for the remaining subjects. Subjects evaluated the person on a 10-item questionnaire, employing 0-to-9 bipolar rating scales for such traits as well-adjustedness, cheerfulness, and mental alertness. Regardless of the stimulus person's gender, or marital status, subjects showed a significant bias favoring the sexually active older person in both experiments. Implications for nursing practice are discussed.