The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of senior simulation on nurses' attitudes toward the elderly and care of the elderly.
Subjects consisted of 32 nurses working for 4 hospital wards of J hospital(experimental group : 18 persons, contr...
The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of senior simulation on nurses' attitudes toward the elderly and care of the elderly.
Subjects consisted of 32 nurses working for 4 hospital wards of J hospital(experimental group : 18 persons, control group: 14 persons). Non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design was used. Experimental group participated in daily activities for 40 minutes wearing senior simulation suit.
The tools used for this study were Aging Semantic Differential Scale developed by Sanders, Montgomery, Pittman, and Balkwell(1984) for measuring the attitude toward the elderly and Semantic Differential Scale for the attitude toward care of the elderly developed by author in addition to open questions about the experience of senior simulation.
Data were collected before and after the senior simulation and one week after senior simulation from October 8 to October 18, 2008.
Data were analyzed with frequency, test, t-test using SPSS/WIN 12.0 program as well as contents analysis.
The results of this study were as follows:
1) The first hypothesis "the experimental group who experienced senior simulation will significantly positive in the attitude toward the elderly compared to the control group" was rejected.
2) The second hypothesis "the experimental group who experienced senior simulation will significantly positive in the attitude toward care of the elderly compared to the control group" was supported(t=1.965, p=.030).
3) According to content analysis of the experience of senior simulation, the nurses became more empathetic and understanding to elderly's physical limitations which brought nurses more active and positive in caring of the elderly.
In conclusion, senior simulation can affect nurses' attitude toward care of the elderly. So senior simulation needs to be applied to geriatric education for nurses who are involved in care of the elderly.