An investigation of student nurses' attitudes toward old people in hospital

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the attitudes of student nurses toward old people in hospital. First of all in Chapter 1 the position of the elderly in society is considered, with particular reference to demographic trends in population; to the dependency of the elderly on health services and to the development of geriatric medicine and geriatric nursing. The literature relating to attitudes of health professionals toward the elderly is reviewed and special attention is paid to the methodological aspects of nursing studies (Chapter 2). The concept of 'attitude' is then called into question and Chapter 3 considers traditional means of measuring cognitions. In Chapter 4, another major class of measurement, namely the observation and analysis of overt behaviour is considered with particular reference to conversational analysis. It is concluded that traditional attitude research has reached an impasse, and in Chapter 5 some alternatives are considered. Two complementary methods are proposed. Firstly, an 'accounting' methodology to facilitate the nurse's justification of her conversations with patients, and secondly, a repertory grid methodology to examine changes in nurses' perceptions of old people during the course of training. Chapter 6 reports a Pilot Study of 'accounting' in a geriatric unit and Chapters 7 and 8 report the Main Study of 'accounting' in a medical and geriatric unit. In Chapter 9, the repertory grid study is reported. Additional information regarding student nurses' responses to geriatric nursing and choices of careers was also sought by means of questionnaires. This study is reported and discussed in Chapter 10. Finally, Chapter 11 reviews the results of all the studies and makes recommendations for future attitude research and for nursing education and practice.

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