Attitudes of Diploma Student Nurses Toward Adult Clients

This descriptive study was conducted to determine the attitudes of diploma nursing students towards adult clients of different ages in various health situations. The present study has attempted to fill a gap in nursing research using a new approach: “the person perception paradigm.” One hundred college students in the last year of their nursing program completed a questionnaire. Students in this study rated eight photos of male clients, ranging in ages from 20 to 90 years, in various health situations. The rating scales were set up with 12 pairs of bipolar adjectives which reflected three dimensions: competence, benevolence, and health. The second part of the questionnaire consisted of seven questions pertaining to the particular respondent. The subject data sheet required the respondents to state their age, sex, current status in the diploma program, previous education, experiences with the elderly, and preference of work upon completion of the diploma nursing program. A multivariate repeated measures analysis of variance indicated that nursing students demonstrated positive attitudes toward the elderly as compared to younger clients for competence, benevolence, and health. In particular, the student nurses rated the 60- and 80-year-old men more positively than younger clients in both success and failure conditions. The magnitude of the differences for the success and failure ratings was much greater for the 20- and 60-year-old men than the magnitude of the ratings for the 40-year-old men or 80-year-old men. The success and failure interaction did not clearly support the expectation of a subtle age bias with the 60-and 80-year-old men. Data analyzed from the subject information sheet revealed nursing students do not indicate an interest in working with the elderly upon completion of the program. Education, age, and sex of the subject had no significance in the attitudes of student nurses. However, students with more past experiences with the elderly indicated more positive attitudes towards elders. Future studies should be carried out to examine what exactly in the diploma nursing program promotes positive attitudes, whether attitudes of students affect their quality of care, and whether the person perception paradigm produces similar results in another school of nursing. Also, more research is required to examine the effect of the specific health situations on the age-related person perceptions of diploma student nurses.