Attitudes toward and willingness to work with older adults, and interest in nursing home employment among racial minority undergraduate nursing students

Abstract

Increased rate of growth and the need for quality care for older adults’ challenges registered nurse staffing levels, necessitating the need to develop a pool of future registered nurses who choose older adults’ care, particularly in nursing homes. Attitudes, interest, and willingness of nursing students to care for older adults need to be studied. To examine the attitudes and willingness of racial minority undergraduate nursing students toward older adults’ care, nursing home employment, and compare measures with racial majority students. Using a cross-sectional design, data was collected from 298 undergraduate nursing students. Variables were measured using Kogan’s Attitudes toward Old People (KAOP) scale, the Willingness to Work with Elderly People (WEPS) Scale, and nursing home employment questions. Analyses were conducted using R version 4.6.0. statistical software. KAOP mean scores were 143.87 and 143.39 for the minority and majority racial groups respectively and 143.57 for both racial groups; no statistical difference in attitudes between the groups was detected. On the WEPS measure, racial minority group scored 85.47 while the racial majority group scored 80.52 showing a difference at t(172.88) = 2.79, p = .006. Racial minority indicated higher interest in nursing home employment. There was a marginal difference between the attitudes of the two racial groups regarding the care of older adults. There was a greater level of willingness of the racial minority group to care for older adults as well as increased interest to work in nursing homes upon graduation.

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