Attitudes and stereotypes: nurses' work with older people

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Nursing Studies
• Social Science

Background:

• Nurses' attitudes towards working with older adults are complex.
• Previous assumptions link a lack of desire to work with older people solely to negative attitudes towards the elderly.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the nuances in nurses' attitudes towards older people as a group versus as individuals.
• To identify factors influencing career choices in geriatric nursing.

Main Methods:

• A mixed-methods approach was used with 136 community nurses.
• Data collection included questionnaires with critical incident reports and in-depth qualitative interviews with 22 participants.

Main Results:

• Nurses' attitudes towards older people collectively may differ from their attitudes towards individual patients.
• The study challenges the sole attribution of career avoidance to negative attitudes towards the elderly.

Conclusions:

• High dependency levels and hospital work structures in geriatric care deter nurses.
• These systemic factors, rather than solely negative attitudes, influence career choices in working with older adults.