The Convergent Influence of Knowledge, Attitudes toward Caring for the Elderly and Geriatric Nursing Practice in Nursing Students

Abstract The purpose of this study was to identify the relationships among knowledge, attitudes toward caring for the elderly and geriatric nursing practice and the influencing factors on geriatric nursing practice in nursing students. Data were collected from 255 nursing students with clinical practice experiences in three nursing schools in B city, with the measurement of Fact on Aging Quiz PartⅠ, Attitudes toward Caring for the Elderly and Geriatric nursing practice. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson’scorrelation coefficient, and Stepwise multiple regression. Significant correlations were found among knowledge of, caring attitude towards the elderly and geriatric nursing practice. The significant factors influencing geriatric nursing practice were caring attitude towards the elderly, grade, and knowledge of the elderly, and these factors explained 27.4% of the variance. The findings suggest that effective educational strategies need to be developed and implemented to foster positive caring attitude towards and knowledge of the elderly in order to improve geriatric nursing practice in nursing students.