Attitudes of Almajmaah University Undergraduate Nursing Students toward Older People’s Care (Published)

The aim of this study was to investigate attitudes of Saudi Arabia nursing students towards care for older people and, their intention and willingness to provide care for this population in the future. Nursing students at a Saudi Arabian university were sampled for the study. A cross section of the students (n = 250) completed the modified Kogan’s ‘Attitudes towards Older People Scale’ (1960) and data was analysed using SPSS (v.20). Findings indicate that nursing students have positive attitudes towards older people and that these positive attitudes are influenced by the Saudi socio-cultural context that promotes extended family structure with one or more older persons in most family units. Despite these positive attitudes, Saudi nursing students are unwilling to choose professional care of older people as a career path. Since this reluctance could be influenced by the dearth of educational content that improve students’ knowledge about the care needs of older people, the study recommends the establishment of educational programmes within nursing curriculum that promote a better understanding of older people’s care needs and thus enhance the value of caring for older people professionally.

Keywords: : Older People, Attitudes, Nursing, Saudi Arabia