Özet:

This research was planned to determine the positive and negative attitudes of nursing students towards the elderly. The research was designed in descriptive type. The research was conducted with students enrolled in the nursing program of a state university in Türkiye. The students (n=331) who volunteered to participate in the research and filled out the forms completely formed the sample of the research. The data were collected in the fall semester of the 2022-2023 academic year. “Descriptive Characteristics Form” and “Positive and Negative Age Discrimination Scale (PNYAS)” were used as data collection tools in the study. The mean age of the nursing students participating in the study is 20.34±1.45 (min: 18, max: 26). 75.5% of the students stated that they care for elderly patients in clinical practice and 40.8% stated that they measure vital signs as the most common practice. After graduation, 51.7% of the students stated that they wanted to work with elderly individuals, while 36.6% of them defined old age as dependent and needing care. When the mean scores of the PNYAS sub-dimension of the students participating in the study were examined, it was 45.99±5.72 for the positive ageism sub-dimension and 38.64±5.81 for the negative ageism sub-dimension. In our study, the positive age discrimination sub-dimension mean score of 4th grade students were found to be significantly higher than other grade levels. It has been determined that female students have more positive attitudes towards the elderly than male students and students with extended family structure have more positive attitudes towards the elderly, and the positive age discrimination sub-dimension point average is significantly higher. Research findings show that students have positive attitudes towards the elderly. In order to increase the positive attitudes of nursing students towards the elderly, gerontology and geriatric nursing courses should be given during undergraduate education.

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