Nursing students' attitudes toward ageism in Turkey

Abstract

This research involved a descriptive study with the goal of examining the attitudes of 145 Turkish nursing students studying toward ageism and the factors affecting ageism views. A Student Description Form and the Ageism Attitude Scale (AAS) were the data collection instruments used in this study. Statistical evaluation of the data included percentage, median and Kruskal Wallis Test and Mann-Whitney U-test. The average age of student participants was 20.10 +/- 3.52; further 37.9% of these students were 1st year nursing students, 25.5% of were 2nd year, 11.7% were 3rd year, and 24.8% were 4th year students. Of the students in this study 63.4% had completed coursework in elderly health as part of undergraduate study. Average scores on the AAS students were 84.01 +/- 7.61 points. Most female students who completed classes related to elderly health, either lived with or planned to live with at least one elderly parent after starting a family or already experienced having an elderly relative in their home. These students tended to have positive attitudes toward aging. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.