NURSES AND OLDER PEOPLE

Nurses Attitudes towards Older People

By

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

For this piece of work, I acknowledge and want to thank my teaching staff, family and friends for the support and assistance they provided me throughout the completion phase. Their belief and guidance made me able to complete this study by countering various hurdles.

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DECLARATION

I declare that all the information and data, presented in this research, is my personal research effort and no external assistance has been taken for it. I further declare that this work is not submitted to any academic institution and at any educational or professional level. All the information in this research presents my personal views and observations and they are not associated with the academic institution.

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ABSTRACT

It is well known that people now live longer and survive to old age as a result of advances in medical and health sciences and their practical applications to improve people's lives. As a consequence, the older population has increased around the world. The rapid growth of the older people population shows that the effort to extend people's life spans has been successful. A related question, however, regards how much progress we have made in sustaining the quality of life throughout the extended old age. Quality of life is an important consideration when caring for older adults. Although older adults are consulting their healthcare nurses in large numbers, the literature reveals that they may be inadequately diagnosed and treated because of ageist attitudes among members of the medical community. The aim of this research is to explore nurses' attitudes towards older people, and will further determine whether the attitude of nurses is impacted by the type of disease in older people or not.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

ABSTRACTIV

INTRODUCTION1

Rationale of the Research3

Details of the Search Strategy3

LITERATURE REVIEW9

Background9

Older People and Healthcare Support12

Depression, Older People and the Nurses13

Relationship between Nurses and Old Patients15

Nurses and Older Hospitalised Patients17

Theoretical Framework19

Social Representations19

Social Representations about Old Age and Ageing19

Stereotypes, Beliefs and Fantasies about the Older People21

Results of the Literature Search22

Critique of the Research22

Identification of a Gap in the Research24

RESEARCH PROPOSAL26

Research Question26

Aim and Objectives26

Research Design26

Research Method27

Research Approach27

Sample28

Data Collection29

Data Analysis Method29

Justification for Choosing Qualitative Research Method30

Assumptions of Qualitative Research31

Research Philosophy31

Limitations of the Research32

ETHICS34

Ethical Considerations34

Principles in Medical Ethics35

Respect for Autonomy36

Non-Maleficence36

Beneficence37

Social justice37

REFERENCES38

APPENDICES49

List of the Articles Used49

INTRODUCTION

The percentage of older people i.e. 65 or above has been consistently increasing with an average of 870,000 each month (Farrell & Belza, 2012). In addition, Europe is considered as the leading continent in the number of older people. At present, 23 out of the 25 countries with the highest number of older people are from Europe (Young, 2003). With the continuous increase in the number of older patients, the need for associated healthcare facilities has also risen. In this case, the role of nurses and other healthcare professionals come into play (Farrell &Belza, 2012). As a result, nurses are increasingly exposed to older people which makes them prone to older people's stereotyping. According to Cowdell (2010), the increased level of exposure of nurses towards older people has impacted the preference for ...