Attitudes of Turkish nursing students toward elderly people

PurposeThis study was conducted to determine the attitudes of nursing students towards elderly people.MethodsThe study was carried out in a cross-sectional and descriptive design. The Turkish version of UCLA-GA Scale was used to evaluate attitudes towards older people among 931 students attending four schools of nursing located in Aegean, Mediterranean, Marmara regions and İstanbul in Turkey.ResultsMean score of UCLA-GA scale was 48.64 ± 5.51 (min: 22, max: 64). Female students were found to have more positive attitudes than male students (t = 2.709, P < 0.05), those who have an elderly relative than those who do not (t = 2.671, P < 0.05), those who want to live with an elderly family member than those who do not (t = 6.374, P < 0.05), and those who want to work at a unit offering care to the elderly after graduation than those who do not (t = 5.259, P < 0.05).ConclusionPositive attitudes towards ageism were affected by variables such as: sex, willingness to live with aged parents after starting a family, work with older people after graduation and whether they had previously or currently lived with an aged relative.