THE EFFECT OF CARING OF THE ELDERLY ON NURSING STUDENTS’ ATTITUDE TOWARD THE ELDERLINESS

The care of the elderly is an important part of the tasks of a professional nurse,
that may be influenced by many factors, including their attitudes toward aging. Some studies have
reported that nursing students have negative attitudes towards the elderly and their care, and it seems
that they are not eager to care for the elderly in their career choices. It is believed that this
phenomenon greatly affects older adults. Therefore, it is proposed to create a positive attitude among
nursing students, and they should therefore be exposed to the conditions of clinical care of older
people.
Materials & Methods: This study was conducted to determine the effect of caring of the elderly on
nursing students’ attitude toward the elderliness. The study is a double-blind clinical trial with 54
participates. Sampling was done randomly. Students on their 8th semester (n=32) were assigned to the
control group, and students on their 7th semester were in the intervention group (n=27).
At first, all students completed a pre-test. Then, the intervention group were divided into 4 small subgroups with 6-7 individuals, and the control groups were divided into 4 small sub-groups with 8
individuals in each. To each of the intervention sub-groups, the care of an elderly person was
designated for a duration of 10 consecutive days. On the 11th day, the post- test was done. The data
were analyzed by dispersion index, independent and paired t-test, ANOVA, chi-square and Fisher
exact tests.
Result: Before the intervention, the positive attitude of students who participated in the care of the
elderly was 51/9% which is reduced to 43% at the end of the intervention (p=0.53). In the control
group, frequency of positive attitude increased from 48/1% to 81/3%.
Conclusion: The care program of old patients has negative effects on students' attitude toward
elderly. However, it may also be associated with other factors such as health status of the patient, the
nursing home residents, and their environment