Views and attitudes of nursing students towards ageing and older patients

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the views and attitudes of nursing students towards ageing and older patients. Design: A qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews was used in this study. Setting Participants were selected from the students of a nursing school in Ankara, Turkey. Subjects: Five focus group discussions were held with 42 students of a nursing school. The sample for this study was selected from second-year bachelour of scince, nursing (BSN) students. All of the participants were female with a mean age of 21.09±0.97. Results: According to the results of this study, 42.8% of the participants had cared for an average of 7.46±4.57 older patients in hospital settings or homes for the aged. Results of this study showed more than half of the participants had negative views about ageing, but the majority of participants reported they behaved positively towards older patients and were sensitive whilst caring for them. Most of the participants indicated they had communication problems with their older patients. Conclusions: This study demonstrates similarities with other international studies exploring nursing students' attitudes towards older people (Lambrinou et al 2009; Wang et al 2009; Burbank et al 2006; Hweidi and Al-Obeisat 2006; McKinlay and Cowan 2003). This study was the first reported research undertaken in Turkey, related to views and attitudes of nursing students about ageing. This study will offer an insight into new studies and educational programs about ageing.