| The purpose of this study was to determine whether there were changes in attitudes toward and knowledge about old people associated with progression through a two-year nursing program and if such changes were in the direction of those held by the professional nursing faculty. Also, the study was designed to discern if nursing students' beliefs about status and preferences of nursing specializations, especially work with old people, changed as they progressed through the program.;Groups of nursing program faculty, nursing students and regular students were given the Caregivers Attitudes Inventory. It elicited evaluations of status and preferences of nursing specialities, with different age groups, knowledge about aging, and misconceptions about old people.;Results of the study showed that all groups ranked geriatric nursing and nursing home care as very low status and as low preference choices. All groups ranked the relative status of various nursing specializations similarly. All groups indicated somewhat less preference for situational contacts with old and very old people, as opposed to people of other age groups, these differences were not significant. A third finding was that nursing students who had taken a special course on aging showed no more knowledge than the regular students who had not taken the course. Finally, it was found that misconceptions about old people held by the nursing students and faculty were more likely to be negative than were those of regular students.;These results indicated that nursing students were no more knowledgeable about old people near the conclusion of the program than when they entered, and were characterized as having even more negative attitudes and stereotypes. Also, it appeared that the nursing faculty did not serve as a positive model in regard to either knowledge about or attitudes toward the elderly. Thus efforts to increase the nursing students' knowledge and enhance their attitudes needs attention if the elderly are to be served well. |
