The Effect of Geriatric Nursing Course on Determining Attitudes Towards the Elderly

Abstract

Aim: The study was conducted to define the effects of a geriatric nursing course on nursing students’ attitudes towards the elderly. Method: The study was conducted in a quasi-experimental design with second-year students studying in the Department of Nursing of a university. A total of 92 people participated in the study. Data were collected online. SPSS 21 statistical software was used in the analysis of the data. Results: Before taking the geriatric nursing course, 75% of the students stated that old age started over 65 years of age, while 87% stated that they started over 65 years of age after taking the geriatrics course (p<0.05). At the same time, it was determined that 27% of the students had difficulty communicating with elderly individuals before taking the geriatric nursing course, while only 17% had difficulty communicating with elderly individuals after taking the geriatrics course (p<0.05). It was determined that the average pre-test score of the students taking the geriatric nursing course was 123.55±15.86, the average post-test score was 127.00±16.40, and the average scores between the pre-test and post-test showed a statistically significant difference (p<0.05). Conclusion: Geriatric nursing course strengthens students' communication with the elderly. It is recommended to include geriatric nursing courses in all university curriculum in order to increase knowledge skills and positive attitudes towards the elderly in nursing students. Thus, students who start working as nurses can play an active role in improving patient outcomes such as hospital stays, reduced readmission rates, and patient satisfaction in hospitalisations due to old age.