Factors Influencing Ageism in General Hospital Nurses

Juah Kim; Jiyeon Ha

doi:10.11111/jkana.2019.25.5.393

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Kim and Ha: Factors Influencing Ageism in General Hospital Nurses

Original Article

J Korean Acad Nurs Adm 2019;25(5):393-403.

Published online: 17 January 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.11111/jkana.2019.25.5.393

Factors Influencing Ageism in General Hospital Nurses

Juah Kim¹, Jiyeon Ha^2,

¹Department of Nursing, Korean Bible University

²College of Nursing, Konyang University

Corresponding author: Ha, Jiyeon, College of Nursing, Konyang University, 158 Gwanjedong-ro, Seo-gu, Daejeon 35365, Korea. Tel: +82-42-600-8583, Fax: +82-42-600-8615, E-mail: jyhaha403@gmail.com

Received 15 May 2019 Revised 5 June 2019 Accepted 12 July 2019

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose:

This study was done to identify the factors involved in ageism in nurses.

Methods:

The participants in this study were 178 general hospital nurses. Data were collected in March 2019 using self-report questionnaires, and were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, one-way ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis test, and stepwise multiple linear regression.

Results:

The total score for ageism was 39.75±5.44 out of a maximum of 72. Ageism had a statistically significant relationship with contact experience (r=-.47, p<.001), attitude (r=.40 p<.001), and aging anxiety (r=.35 p<.001). The determining factors affecting ageism were contact experience (β=-.45, p<.001), attitude(β=.20, p=.002), work place (β=.22, p<.001), marital status (β=.21, p<.001), geriatric nursing preference (β=.18, p=.006), geriatric education (β=.17, p=.006), and aging anxiety (β=.14, p=.041). The explanation power of these variables was 39%.

Conclusion:

The results suggest that contact experience with elders had the largest influence on ageism in nurses. Therefore, it is necessary to develop tailored education programs by hospital type to increase positive contact experience and promote understanding of older patients in acute care settings. Furthermore, the importance of the perception of ageism needs to be highlighted in nursing education and continuing education for nurses.

Keywords: Aged, Ageism, Attitude, Geriatric nursing, Nurses

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Table 1.

Differences in Ageism according to General Characteristics of Participants (N=178)

Characteristics	Categories	n (%)	M±SD (Range)	Ageism
Characteristics	Categories	n (%)	M±SD (Range)	M±SD	t or Z or F (p) Duncan
Gender	Women	171 (96.1)		2.21±0.30	0.16 (.873)
	Men	7 (3.9)		2.19±0.46
Age (year)	22~30	139 (78.1)	27.59±4.49	2.18±0.31	-2.53 (.011)^†
	31~43	39 (21.9)	(22~43)	2.30±0.23
Work experience (year)	＜2^a	46 (25.8)	5.29±4.68	2.13±0.28	7.81 (.020)^‡
	2~5^b	74 (41.6)	(0.92~22)	2.20±0.31	a＜c
	≥6^c	58 (32.6)		2.28±0.30
Work place	Ward^a	112 (62.9)		2.26±0.28	4.12 (.008)
	ICU^b	35 (19.7)		2.07±0.33	a＞b
	ER^c	21 (11.8)		2.15±0.31
	OR/RR^d	10 (5.6)		2.16±0.24
Marital status	Single	148 (83.1)		2.31±0.17	2.08 (.039)
	Married	29 (16.3)		2.19±0.30
	Others	1 (0.6)		-
Area of residency while growing up	Metropolitan city	92 (51.7)		2.23±0.31	0.84 (.436)
	Small city	58 (32.6)		2.17±0.28
	Countryside	28 (15.7)		2.24±0.33

ER=Emergency room; ICU=Intensive care unit; OR=Operating room; RR=Recovery room;

^† Mann-Whitney test;

^‡ Kruskal-Wallis test.

Table 2.

Differences in Ageism according to Geriatric-related Characteristics of Participants (N=178)

Characteristics	Categories	n (%)	Ageism
Characteristics	Categories	n (%)	M±SD	t or F (p) Duncan
Geriatric education	Yes	144 (80.9)	2.19±0.30	-2.14 (.034)
	No	34 (19.1)	2.31±0.28
Residential experience with elders	Yes	85 (47.8)	2.14±0.31	-3.08 (.002)
	No	93 (52.2)	2.27±0.29
Residence status with elders	Yes	13 (7.3)	2.02±0.32	-2.35 (.020)
	No	165 (92.7)	2.22±0.30
Volunteer experience with elders	Yes	140 (78.7)	2.21±0.31	0.29 (.773)
	No	38 (21.3)	2.20±0.29
Preference for geriatric nursing	Yes^a	49 (27.5)	2.16±0.31	11.53 (＜.001)
	No^b	47 (26.4)	2.38±0.27	a, c＜b
	No matter^c	82 (46.1)	2.14±0.28

Table 3.

Descriptive Statistics of Ageism, Contact Experience, Attitude, Aging Anxiety, and Knowledge of Participants (N=178)

Variables	M±SD	Range	Possible range
Ageism	39.75±5.44	26~55	18~72
Contact experience	24.03±6.56	6~40	6~42
Attitude	84.87±11.71	47~140	20~140
Aging anxiety	61.44±8.09	34~80	20~100
Knowledge	11.26±3.17	1~25	0~25

Table 4.

Correlation between Ageism, Contact Experience, Attitude, Aging Anxiety, and Knowledge of Participants (N=178)

Variables	Ageism	Contact experience	Attitude	Aging anxiety
Variables	r (p)	r (p)	r (p)	r (p)
Contact experience	-.47 (＜.001)
Attitude	.40 (＜.001)	-.33 (＜.001)
Aging anxiety	.35 (＜.001)	-.41 (＜.001)	.36 (＜.001)
Knowledge	-.06 (.430)	.11 (.161)	-.09 (.260)	-.19 (.011)

Table 5.

Factors Influencing Ageism in Participants (N=178)

Variables	B	SE	β	t	p
(Constant)	1.54	0.23
Contact experience	-0.07	0.02	-.45	-3.60	＜.001
Attitude	0.11	0.03	.20	3.13	.002
Work place (ward)	0.14	0.04	.22	3.75	＜.001
Marital status (married)	0.18	0.05	.21	3.57	＜.001
Preference for geriatric nursing (no)	0.12	0.04	.18	2.81	.006
Geriatric education (no)	0.13	0.05	.17	2.78	.006
Aging anxiety	0.11	0.05	.14	2.06	.041
		R²=.42, A	dj. R²=.39, F=17.4	6, p＜.001

Adj. R

² =Adjusted R

² ; B=Unstandardized estimates; SE=Standardized error; β=Standardized estimates.

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