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Schematic Diagram

Nursing students often have negative views of caring for older clients and do not choose gerontology. This study used photographs to explore nursing students' perceptions of the healthcare needs of older clients. Six themes emerged from the findings: students want to assess clients' needs directly; make assumptions based on physiology; rely on personal not professional experience; seek validation from others; consider cultural and hierarchy of needs factors; and want integrated learning of theory and practice regarding older clients. The conclusions indicate students are open to learning about older clients and recognize the importance of understanding their needs to help educators structure learning activities accordingly.

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299 views

Schematic Diagram

Nursing students often have negative views of caring for older clients and do not choose gerontology. This study used photographs to explore nursing students' perceptions of the healthcare needs of older clients. Six themes emerged from the findings: students want to assess clients' needs directly; make assumptions based on physiology; rely on personal not professional experience; seek validation from others; consider cultural and hierarchy of needs factors; and want integrated learning of theory and practice regarding older clients. The conclusions indicate students are open to learning about older clients and recognize the importance of understanding their needs to help educators structure learning activities accordingly.

Uploaded by

carla jane bernales
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM

INTRODUCTION
Over the past several decades, nurse researchers have identified that undergraduate students do not choose to work with older
clients. Their lack of interest has been expressed in negative stereotyping of older clients and in not selecting option courses with a focus on
older adults. Their views do not change after graduation and they do not select gerontological practice as their career of choice.
Consequently, strategies have been proposed to enrich the experiences of nursing students caring for older adults, such as structuring their
early clinical experiences to involve well older clients; the hope is that they will view their clients positively and be more apt to choose this
specialty in the future.

Review of the Literature


There are several bodies of literature in which the research on the importance of understanding how student nurses perceive older
clients and determine their health needs: nurses’ knowledge of caring for older clients, student nurses’ knowledge of gerontological
nursing, and older clients’ expectations of nurses are situated.
 Student Nurses’ Knowledge of Gerontological Nursing - Most research examining student nurses’ knowledge of the needs of
older clients has focused on attitudes towards caring for this population group [21–24] and the lack of gerontological content in
baccalaureate programs or proposed changes for gerontological content in nursing education
 Older Clients’ Expectations of Nursing Care - Despite the body of research examining client satisfaction, there is little research
that addresses what older clients expect of registered nurses.
 Situating the Study - This study is a step towards understanding how students, registered nurses of the future, perceive and
respond to the needs of older clients.
 Ethical - Ethical approval was obtained from the University’s ethics committee. Participants were informed of what their
participation entailed, the potential risks, the benefits associated with participation, and their rights to withdraw from the study.

RIGOR
METHOD Rigor in qualitative research
A qualitative descriptive study was undertaken using photographs. relates to the ability to determine if the
Descriptive studies provide “straight and largely unadorned answers” to conclusions drawn by the researchers
questions of special interest to practitioners. Visual method approaches, are trustworthy. The trustworthiness of
such as photographs and dialogue as data generation strategies, can provide qualitative work is often questioned by
insight about the human condition. Harper stated that visual images elicit a positivists, conceivably because their
kind of information, which is grounded in emotive responses unique to the concepts of validity and reliability cannot
respondent; in other words, photo elicitation evokes a more intimate be addressed in the same way in
involvement from the participant. For the study, seven photographs naturalistic inquiry. Findings should
representative of Canada’s older client population with respect to gender, reflect the reality of the experience. In
age, race, ethnicity, and location of care were used. this study, this was done by using the
four criteria described by Lincoln and
Guba.

FINDINGS
In this study, nursing students’ perceptions of the health care needs of older clients were investigated. The six themes that
emerged from data analysis are explicated below (Italics indicates a direct quote from a student).
 Theme 1 (ask the older client!). Participants who were younger in age or earlier in their nursing education were more
likely to state that they would first ask the older client about what was happening for him or her. They used phrases
such as find out what is the need, do an assessment, and use the nursing process.
 Theme 2 (physiology rules). Participants made decisions about the health care needs of older clients based on what
they did not know or wanted to know, with a notable emphasis on physiological functioning.
 Theme 3 (personal, not professional). Participants, particularly those with experience working with older clients, relied
on previous personal experiences rather than research or written materials to provide care for older clients.
 Theme 4 (who can validate?). Participants needed to have their impressions of their older clients validated by health
care team members.
 Theme 5 (hierarchy of needs). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs includes five motivational needs, often depicted as
hierarchical levels within a pyramid. Participants exhibited sensitivity towards the importance of the culture of older
clients and that they needed, as nurses, to honor that culture.
 Theme 6 (help us learn). Participants would like to see older client content integrated into their courses as one
expressed the following: help us make the linkages, referring to pharmacology and pathophysiology concepts. Other
comments included the following: we want to do a good job and this is all part of our learning, and we look to our
nursing instructors to help us learn and link theory and practice together.
DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
The findings from this study have implications for research. If gerontological content is included
in courses that typically do not include it, then research needs to be conducted examining the
attitudes of faculty towards this approach, as well as their concerns about competency and
strategies to enhance their knowledge. Researchers also needs to examine the effectiveness of
curricula that integrates gerontological content versus segregation. Additionally, how do
students best learn to perceive the needs of older clients and respond knowledgeably and
skillfully? The merit of this study lies in the knowledge that it generates for nurse educators who
are developing and revising content with pathology and nursing interventions may stimulate
students’ interest and facilitate their learning. This may suggest ways of teaching in seminar and
classroom settings to maximize learning for students. It also offers a strategy for clinical
instructors working in acute care hospitals where many of the clients are older clients. For
example, it may help them if they use pathology content as an introduction to gerontological
nursing care.

CONCLUSION
On the basis of the findings, students are not opposed to learning about
older clients. They clearly recognized the significance of understanding the
needs of older clients. This information will help nurse educators to structure
learning activities, in both the classroom and clinical settings, to promote the
integration of knowledge that students seek. It will also help educators
understand the role of health care colleagues in influencing students in their
decision-making processes.

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