‘Is elderly care affected by nurse attitudes?’ A systematic review

BACKGROUND: The world's population of older people is increasing,The World Health Organization (WHO) (2013 a) defines 'elderly'as those 65 years and older. Currently there are deficits in good basic care, partially resulting from the negative attitudes of some nursing staff. METHOD: This systematic review was conducted by searching the CINAHL, MEDLINE and Inter nurse databases, which produced 119 results. Three original research papers were extracted,the fourth was obtained from a reference list and the final paper was taken from the internet. RESULTS: Both student and qualified nurses can portray a negative attitude towards older people, thus negatively affecting care. The reasons for these negative attitudes are numerous, although lack of knowledge of the ageing process and gerontology prevail. CONCLUSION: Further research is required and in-depth interviews to establish why some nurses portray negative attitudes. Strategies need to be implemented to address these issues,so encouraging better care provision.