THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NURSES’ CHARACTERISTICS, AGEISM, PERCEPTION OF OLDER PEOPLE CARE AND NURSING PRACTICE FOR HOSPITALIZED OLDER PEOPLE

Abstract

This correlational study aimed to explore the relationships between nurses’ characteristics (age, gender, education, experience), ageism, perception of older people care and nursing practice for hospitalized older people. A simple random sampling was used to recruit 120 nurses from two general hospitals in Bandung City. All participants completed four questionnaires: 1) the Demographic questionnaire, 2) the Professional Development of Registered Nurse (PDRS), an instrument to measure nursing practice, 3) the Fraboni Scale of Ageism (FSA), and 4) the Nurse’ Perception of Care questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Spearman correlation, and Pearson correlation. The findings were as follows: Nursing practice for hospitalized older people was highly performed (mean 4.07, SD=0.49). Ageism showed a moderate mean score (mean 66.61, SD = 6.0). Nurses had high perception of older people care (mean 3.61, SD =.42) Three characteristics of nurses (age, gender, experience) had relationship with nursing practice for hospitalized older people (r = 0.182; r = 0.243; r = 0.300; p < 0.05). Ageism had negative relationship with nursing practice for hospitalized older people (r = -0.286; p < 0.05). Education background and nurses’ perception of older people care were not related to nursing practice for hospitalized older people. In conclusion, the practice of working toward hospitalized older people was considerably high in a clinical setting. It is recommended for nursing organization to better prepare an aged care specifically.