Swedish nursing students attitudes towards older people and working in care for older people
Sammanfattning
In Sweden the number of old people is increasing, and there will be a shortage of nurses working within the field of care for older people in the future. It can be a challenge to recruit new nurses, and especially clinical nurses specialized in gerontological care. The aim of the study was to gain knowledge about attitudes towards older people and towards working in the field of care for older people among a group of Swedish nursing students. The study included 490 nursing students at four universities in Sweden. The participants completed the Swedish version of the Kogan's Old People Scale that measures attitudes towards older people and working within the field of care for older people. The results showed that students 31 years and older had the highest positive median attitude scores. Furthermore, significant differences in positive and negative scores were found related to education levels. Progression in the nursing students’ education contributes to more positive attitudes and less negative attitudes toward older people.