Determinants of undergraduate nursing students' care willingness towards the elderly in China: Attitudes, gratitude and knowledge

• The attitude towards the elderly and knowledge, gratitude were significantly correlated with care willingness.
• The attitude towards the elderly has no relationship with the knowledge and gratitude.
• The positive attitude towards the elderly and retribution can explain the care willingness to the elderly was 18.3%.
• Gratitude plays a mediating role between the knowledge about aging and care willingness to the elderly.

BackgroundAn aging population has become a serious problem in China. Improving the nursing students' care willingness is a critical way to solve this dilemma. Few studies reveal the relationship between the knowledge, care willingness, attitude towards the elderly and gratitude. This research has found that the attitude towards the elderly, the knowledge about aging, and gratitude showed correlation with care willingness.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study is to explore the relationships among knowledge about aging, care willingness, attitude towards the elderly and gratitude.DesignA cross-sectional descriptive design has been used.MethodsFrom November to December 2015, a total of 382 undergraduate nursing students in China completed the questionnaires. The response rate was 95.5%. Four questionnaires including Care Willingness to the Elderly Scale (CW), Kogan's Attitudes towards Old People scale (KAOP), the Facts on Aging Quiz (FAQ), and the Gratitude Scale. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to explore the relationship among those variables in this study.ResultsFor Chinese nursing students, the care willingness of elderly was in medium-high level. Their attitude towards the elderly and gratitude were at the medium degree, while the knowledge about aging was at a lower level. The attitude towards older people, knowledge about aging, and gratitude were significantly correlated with care willingness. The knowledge about aging has no relationship with the attitude. Gratitude plays a mediation role between the knowledge about aging and care willingness. The experience of caring the elderly could lead to a positive impact in care willingness.ConclusionsThe nursing students' knowledge about aging had a direct influence on their care willingness. Gratitude plays a mediating role between the knowledge about aging and care willingness to the elderly.