Factors Affecting Nursing Students\u27 Attitudes Towards Older Adults

The purpose of this study was to measure nursing students\u27 attitudes towards older adults and to determine, if possible, factors which affect nursing students\u27 attitudes toward older adults. A convenience sample of 94 senior, pre-licensed, baccalaureate nursing students, at a metropolitan university school of nursing in community and acute settings participated in the study. This non-experimental, descriptive survey focused on nursing students\u27 attitudes towards older adults using the Kogan\u27s Attitude Towards Old People Scale (KOP). A researcher developed questionnaire was also used to collect demographic information, as well as academic and non-academic experiences of students. The findings of this study showed a young, predominantly female, more Asian than non-Asian sample, with students having varied academic experiences with older adults. Being a caregiver to a grandparent was the most common non-academic experience of students, followed by no experiences at all with older adults. KOP results showed a very homogenous sample with KOP scores similar to those in other studies