Jordanian nursing students' attitudes toward the elderly.

The purpose of this study was to identify Jordanian nursing students' attitudes towards older people and to consider whether the attitudes of the selected sample had any bearing on the care provided for this client group. A descriptive correlational design was employed and Kogan's [Kogan, N., 1961. Attitudes toward old people: the development of a scale and examination of correlates. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 62, 44-54.] attitudes toward older people scale was administered to a convenience sample of 250 nursing students enrolled in the BSN program at a governmental university in the northern region of Jordan. Students' attitudes were identified using descriptive and inferential statistics. The Jordanian nursing students who participated in this study displayed marginally positive attitudes toward older people. Age and the socio-economic status of the students correlated significantly with their attitudes. Senior and male nursing students had more positive attitudes toward this client group than their counterparts. Students who prefer to work with older people following graduation reported more positive attitudes toward older people than students who did not. The results of this study suggest that positive attitudes exist towards older people; despite this, it is clear that efforts are required to enhance them further. In addition, the Jordanian lecturers in schools of nursing should further consider the need to prepare the students for their roles as caregivers for this particular client group.