Nurses' attitudes toward aging and older adults--examining attitudes and practices among health services providers in Australia.

Data from an applied research project on ageism among health professionals were used to examine nurses' attitudes toward aging and working with older adults. Nurses were compared with groups of other health professionals, and sources of variation within the nurses (e.g., employer, work setting, gerontology education) were examined. Nurses had less accurate knowledge of aging than other health professionals. Nurses expressed higher anxiety about aging and were more likely to believe working with older adults was associated with low esteem in the profession. Nurses were more likely to hold positive attitudes if they worked for a service provider rather than an employment agency, had gerontology education, and worked outside the residential care sector. Improving education in gerontology is an important strategy in improving the attitudes of the profession toward older adults and could help to address nursing shortages in this sector.