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.

BackgroundPost-operative pain relief in cleft surgery should be efficient and effective. The Face, Leg, Activity, Cry and Consolability (FLACC) scale is a validated tool for post-operative pain assessment in patients who cannot express themselves verbally. The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the analgesic protocol practiced at the Dental Hospital Peradeniya, using FLACC scale during the first 24 hours following cleft surgery. Methods and materialSample included 193 patients who underwent primary repair of cleft lip and palate. They were given paracetamol two hours before surgery and 0.1mg/kg intravenous morphine during surgery. Infra-orbital nerve blocks for cleft lip surgeries, greater palatine nerve blocks for cleft palate surgeries and rectal diclofenac suppository (1.5 mg/kg) if above six months of age were added. The surgical site was infiltrated with 1% lignocaine in adrenaline. Oral paracetamol was used post-operatively. Cuddling, carrying, lullaby singing and nursing by mother was used as nonpharmacological strategies in the ward. Pain assessment was done at 5 min after recovery from anaesthesia and then at 30 minutes, 1 hour, 1.5 hours, 2 hours, 2.5 hours, 3 hours, 3.5 hours, 4 hours, 5 hours and 6 hours after recovery, and then at 8 am and 12 noon on the day following surgery using the FLACC scale. ResultsThe number of patients with severe to profound pain reduced gradually following recovery, except for a minor resurgence of pain at 2.5 hours. At the end of first 24 hours, 92.7% of patients had no pain according to the FLACC scale while only less than 1% had severe pain. ConclusionThe combined protocol of pharmacological and non-pharmacological strategies used at the Cleft Centre was highly effective for relief of post-operative pain in cleft surgeries.