Undergraduate Nursing Students’ Knowledge of Aging, Attitudes Toward and Perceptions of Working With Older Adults in Kathmandu Nepal

Authors

Saruna Ghimire, University of Nevada, NVFollow
Nitisha Shrestha, Purbanchal University, Lalitpur, Nepal
Karen E. Callahan, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Dhirendra Nath, Southeast Asia Development Actions Network
Binaya Kumar Baral, Nepal Medical College and Teaching Hospital
Nirmale Lekhak, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Devendra Raj Singh, Purbanchal University, Lalitpur, Nepal

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-7-2019

Publication Title

International Journal of Nursing Sciences

Volume

6

First page number:

1

Last page number:

25

Abstract

Objectives: This study aims to examine Nepalese undergraduate nursing students’ knowledge of aging, attitudes towards older adults and perceptions of working with older adults, and to assess differences in these outcomes by socio-demographic characteristics as well as type of nursing program. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 385 undergraduate nursing students in six nursing colleges located in the Kathmandu Valley. Knowledge of aging, attitudes toward older adults and perceptions of working with older adults were assessed using standardized tools, the Palmore Facts on Aging Quiz, Kogan's Attitudes towards Older People Scale, and Nolan's Intent to Work with Older People Questionnaire, respectively. Results: The mean knowledge scores on older adults and aging were relatively low; participants scored an average of 26.9 out of 50. Scores assessing attitudes towards and perceptions of working with older adults were more favorable. Compared to students pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), students pursuing a Bachelor of Nursing (BN) had a significantly higher score on the knowledge, attitudes and perception of aging scales. Linear regression analyses showed that the students’ knowledge of aging (β = 0.55; 95% CI = 0.25–0.86) and perceptions of working with older adults (β = 0.22; 95% CI = 0.05–0.38) had a significant positive association with their attitudes toward older adults.

Keywords

Aged; Attitudes; Knowledge; Perceptions; Students, Nursing; Nepal

Disciplines

Community Health

File Format

pdf

File Size

387 KB

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Repository Citation

Ghimire, S., Shrestha, N., Callahan, K. E., Nath, D., Baral, B., Lekhak, N., Raj Singh, D. (2019). Undergraduate Nursing Students’ Knowledge of Aging, Attitudes Toward and Perceptions of Working With Older Adults in Kathmandu Nepal. International Journal of Nursing Sciences, 6 1-25.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnss.2019.03.003