s u m m a r y a r t i c l e i n f o Background: With the increased number of older people globally, caring for older people has become a challenge for many countries. Nurses have a pivotal role in providing quality care for older people and care is affected by their attitudes. The preparation of nurses to deliver quality care needs to be instilled during their studying in the Schools of Nursing. Objective: To examine the attitudes of nursing students toward and their willingness to work with older people in Sri Lanka. Methodology: A purposive sample of 98 first to fourth year undergraduate nursing students in the Department of Nursing, University of Peradeniya completed a self-administered questionnaire consisting of socio-demographic variables, Kogan's Attitudes toward Older People Scale, and questions related to willingness to work with older people. Results: Fifty percent of the respondents (n = 49) held slightly positive attitudes toward older people while 45% (n = 44) held slightly negative attitudes. About one-third of the respondents (29.9%, n = 29) selected the elderly group as the least preferred group for their future career from the categorized seven age groups. Only 5.1% (n = 5) of the respondents ranked the elderly group as the first preferred group. There was a significant difference in attitudes between students who lived with older people and students who did not live with older people (t = 2.565, p = .012). There was a positive relationship between attitudes and preference for working with older people (r = .342, p = .001). Conclusion: Nursing students have moderately positive attitudes toward older people; however, they show little interest in working with older people. Living with older people develops positive attitudes of young people toward older people. Attitudes are related to the selection in area of specialty in nursing. Nursing curricula need to include Gerontological Nursing as a major area.

The pandemic of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has brought significant pressure on nurses globally as they are the frontline of care. This study aimed to explore the experiences and challenges of nurses who worked with hospitalised patients with COVID-19. In this qualitative study, a purposive sample of 14 nurses participated in in-depth telephone interviews. Data were analysed using Colaizzi’s phenomenological method. Five key themes emerged: (1) physical and psychological distress of nurses, (2) willingness to work, (3) the essential role of support mechanisms, (4) educational and informational needs of nurses and (5) the role of modern technology in COVID-19 care. Although the provision of care led to physical and psychological distress among nurses, with their commitment and professional obligation, it is a new experience that leads to personal satisfaction. Guilty feeling related to inefficiency of care, witnessing the suffering of patients, discomfort associated with wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), work-related issues (e.g., long hour shifts), negative impact to the family and rejection by others are the leading distress factors. Religious beliefs, including keeping trust in good and bad merits, have become a strong coping mechanism. Addressing distress among nurses is essential. The reported learning needs of nurses included skills related to donning and doffing PPE, skills in performing nursing procedures and breaking bad news. Nurse managers need to pay special attention to expanding training opportunities as well as support mechanisms, for example, welfare, appreciations and counselling services for nurses. Modern technology, particularly robots and telecommunication, can perform an essential role in COVID-19 care. The establishment of timely policies and strategies to protect health workers during a national disaster like COVID-19 is needed.

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The co-design of a mobile health (mHealth) application for family caregivers of people with dementia to address functional disability care needs is presented. ParticipantsParticipants included family caregivers of people with dementia, aged care nurses, physicians, occupational therapists and information technology (IT) experts. MethodsThe co-design process involved two phases: (1) needs assessment phase (an online survey and in-depth interviews with family caregivers and expert consultation); and (2) development of an mHealth application (content and prototype development). Data triangulation from phase one informed the content of the application. ResultsData triangulation resulted in three content modules: "an overview of dementia and care", "management of daily living activities", and "caregivers' health and well-being". The content was based on contemporary literature, and care guidelines with input from family caregivers and dementia care experts. IT engineers developed the mHealth application. ConclusionAn Android-based mHealth application was designed to address the functional care needs of family caregivers. The co-design process ensured the incorporation of end-users' real-world experiences and the opinions and expertise of key stakeholders in the development of the application prototype. It is to be noted that before releasing the application into the app store, testing its feasibility and effectiveness is essential.