Assessing attitudes toward elderly among nurses working in the city of Ilam

OBJECTIVE: Several factors affect the quality of care in the elderly, such as nurses' attitudes. This study aimed to assess nurses' attitude toward elderly in the city of Ilam. METHOD: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 230 nurses working at public hospitals in the city of Ilam. Participants were selected using simple random sampling from the list of staff. The Kogan's attitude questionnaire was used to measure nurses' attitudes toward the elderly. RESULTS: The mean age of respondents in this study was 32.65 (SD = 7.67), and the score of attitudes toward the elderly was 144.96 (SD = 51.75) in average. More than half (54.3%) of the nurses had negative attitudes toward the elderly. The results of ANOVA analysis showed significant differences (P < 0.05) were observed in the attitudes toward the elderly among the nurses as their ages, marital status, work experiences, and ward types differed. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, nurses in this study have marginally negative attitudes toward the elderly. Therefore, promoting nurses' attitudes toward the elderly is important to provide high-quality care.