Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jun;55(2):216-229.
doi: 10.1177/08445621221113734. Epub 2022 Jul 25.

Curriculum, Theory, and Practice: Exploring Nurses' and Nursing Students' Knowledge of and Attitudes towards Caring for the Older Adults in Canada

Amany Farag Hassan Mohamed  1 , Isha DeCoito  2
Affiliations

Curriculum, Theory, and Practice: Exploring Nurses' and Nursing Students' Knowledge of and Attitudes towards Caring for the Older Adults in Canada

Amany Farag Hassan Mohamed et al. Can J Nurs Res. 2023 Jun.

Abstract

Background: Caring for older adults is among the most challenging issue of public health and social care systems in modern societies. By enhancing the nursing curriculum, nursing students will be qualified to provide gerontology care, and they will be acknowledging and working to eliminate ageism from the health care system.

Purpose: This study explores nurses' and nursing students' knowledge and attitudes in caring for older adults and addresses the factors contributing to nurses' perspectives. It also examines the nursing curriculum's contributions to nurses' knowledge and attitudes and provides suggestions aimed at reconfiguring the nursing curriculum for comprehensive gerontology nursing care.

Methods: A mixed-method research design was utilized, and quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 90 nurses and nursing students through an online questionnaire. Data were analyzed via SPSS and NVivo 12 software programs.

Results: The results revealed that most nurses possess neutral attitudes toward caring for older patients, and their knowledge ranged from average to above-average levels. Statistical analysis revealed no statistically significant difference between gender and nurses' attitudes or between gender and knowledge. Similarly, there was no statistically significant difference between work status and nurses' attitudes. Results showed a statistically significant positive correlation between nurses' attitudes and knowledge level. This study demonstrated the positive impact of the Canadian nursing curriculum on nurses' knowledge and attitudes.

Conclusion: The current study recommends providing gerontology nursing courses as a mandatory separate course in nursing education to enhance nursing students' knowledge and skills for high-quality gerontology nursing care.

Keywords: Nurses’ attitudes; contribution of nursing curriculum; curriculum development; gerontology nursing care; nurses’ knowledge level; nursing curriculum.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Nurses’ opinions of the contribution of the nursing curriculum to their knowledge.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Nurses’ account of the contribution of the nursing curriculum to their attitudes towards the elderly.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Nurses’ account of how the nursing curriculum contribute to their attitudes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Abozeid H. A. (2015). Study of nurses’ attitudes toward older adults at the main Assiut University hospital; suggested intervention guidelines. Al-Azhar Assiut Medical Journal, 13(2), 257–266. http://www.aamj.eg.net/journals/pdf/2876.pdf
    1. Alsenany S. (2007). Student nurses’ attitude and knowledge towards the care of older people in Saudi Arabia. British Society of Gerontology. http://www.britishgerontology.org. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2022, from http://www.sciepub.com/reference/266809
    1. Alsenany S. (2009). An exploration of the attitudes, knowledge, willingness, and future intentions to work with older people among Saudi nursing students in baccalaureate nursing schools in Saudi Arabia (Doctoral Thesis, University of Sheffield; ). http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/14691/1/522554.pdf
    1. Alsubaie M. A. (2015). HC as one of current issue of curriculum. Journal of Education and Practice, 6(33), 125–128. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1083566.pdf
    1. Arani M. M., Aazami S., Azami M., Borji M. (2017). Assessing attitudes toward elderly among nurses working in the city of Ilam. International Journal of Nursing Sciences, 4(3), 311–313. 10.1016/j.ijnss.2017.06.009 - DOI - PMC - PubMed