Attitudes of nurses and student nurses towards working with older people and to gerontological nursing as a career in Germany, Scotland, Slovenia, Sweden, Japan and the United States.

The aim of this study was to describe attitudes towards caring for older people among nurses and student nurses in six participating countries. Working with older people has historically had a negative profile and, with a global rise in the numbers of older people and a global shortage of nurses, it is essential to recruit nurses into this area. This study gathered data from six countries to explore nurses' and student nurses' attitudes to nursing older people and to gerontological nursing as a career. A convenience sample of 1064 nursing students and 2585 nurses in six countries answered the Multifactorial Attitudes Questionnaire (MAQ), designed to elicit attitudes towards caring for older people and to the esteem that comes with working in this field. The MAQ consists of seven positive and thirteen negative statements, and uses a Likert scale. A higher total score indicates a more positive attitude. Differences in attitudes among the six counties was observed for both nursing students and for nurses ( < 0.001). Nursing students in Scotland and the USA had the highest mean scores, and Slovenia and Sweden were the countries with the lowest mean scores. The highest scores for nurses were reported in Scotland and Sweden, and the lowest scores in Germany and Japan. From the findings, it is suggested that formal nursing education to students between 18 and 29 years of age has high importance for positive attitudes towards working with older people

International Collaboration in Gerontological Nursing.

The world stands on the threshold of a demographic revolution called global aging. We live in a global world where people travel for holidays and work; for some, migration is the only possible alternative to a precarious situation in their own country. Therefore, the older populations in our Western countries no longer have a shared past. To understand, help, and care for older adults from other countries, we need both specific knowledge of the individual as well as general knowledge of his or her country, culture, and family structures. According to the National Institute on Aging (2007), “there is a need to raise awareness about not only global aging issues but also the importance of rigorous cross-national scientific research and policy dialogue that will help us address the challenges and opportunities of an aging world” (p. 1)