Edinburgh Napier University

  Aim To explore the attitudes of nurses and nursing
students in Scotland, Sweden and the US towards
working with older people.
Method This quantitative study used the 20-item
Multifactorial Attitudes Questionnaire (MAQ) to elicit
attitudes on ageism, resources, working environment,
education and professional esteem. Researchers from
each country distributed the questionnaires to nursing
students and nurses, giving a convenience sample
of 1,587 respondents. Data were entered on the
Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 18 and
merged into one large dataset.
Results Scottish participants had the highest
(positive) and Swedish participants the lowest mean
MAQ score. The Kruskal-Wallis test showed significant
differences in mean scores across the countries in 18 of the 20 statements, even when controlling for age
and experience.
Most participants gave positive responses, but
agreed that negative attitudes towards working with
older people pervade among peers due to working
conditions, poor career prospects and a perceived lack
of professional esteem.
Conclusion Inspirational educators, excellent clinical
placements and increasing the professional esteem
of those working with older people are required to
promote the specialty as an attractive career option.