Turkish Journal of Geriatrics 2018 , Vol 21, Issue 1
CAN AN ELECTIVE GERIATRIC NURSING COURSE CHANGE NURSING STUDENTS" ATTITUDES AND WILLINGNESS IN CARING FOR THE ELDERLY? A QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN STUDY
Burcu AKPINAR SÖYLEMEZ1, Özlem KÜÇÜKGÜÇLÜ1, Merve Aliye AKYOL1
1Dokuz Eylül University, Faculty of Nursing İzmir, Turkey DOI : 10.31086/tjgeri.2018137964 Introduction: The elderly population is rapidly growing, and healthcare professionals are currently providing increased care for the elderly. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of an elective geriatric nursing course on the attitude of students toward the elderly and students" willingness to work with them.

Materials and Method: This study was a quasi-experimental. Pretest-posttest design was used. The sample comprised 108 nursing students (46 of the students were educated in an elective geriatric nursing course, 62 were educated in an elective emergency and surgery nursing course). The Student Information Form and Kogan"s Attitudes Towards Old People Scale were used. Value, average, percentage frequency distribution, paired t tests, independent t test, McNemar"s test, and chi-square test were used.

Results: Students who participated in the elective geriatric nursing course developed more positive and less negative attitudes toward the elderly after the course in comparison with students who participated in the elective emergency and surgery nursing course.

Conclusion: It is important that the curriculum of the geriatric nursing course should create awareness and knowledge in students regarding care of and attitudes toward the elderly. Adopting a more positive and less negative attitude ensures a higher quality care for the elderly. There is a need to revise the nursing curriculum and develop innovative schemes that will increase the students" willingness to work with the elderly. Keywords : Attitude; Aged; Students; Nursing; Curriculum