Analysis of factors influencing the attitudes towards the elderly of nursing students based on empathy and end-of-life care: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to explore the factors associated with attitudes towards the older adults among nursing students, to clarify the impact of empathy and end-of-life care on the attitude of the older adults, and to provide a basis for the follow-up of education courses related to older adults care and the training of older adults care talents. Design: A cross-sectional study. Methods: A cross-sectional survey on nursing students' knowledge and attitudes towards older adults was conducted from 24 December 2020–24 February 2021. The Chinese versions of the end-of-life Attitudes Scale, Jefferson Empathy Scale-Nursing Version and Kogan Attitudes Scale for the Elderly were used for this cross-sectional study. We used the purposive sampling method to conduct a questionnaire survey on nursing students at Heilongjiang Nursing College (n = 371, effective response rate: 64.52%). Results: The average score of FATCOD-B was 99.04 (7.71), and the score of C-JSE-HPS was 100.67 (12.90). The total average score of nursing students' attitudes towards older adults was 139.91 (15.79). The hierarchical regression analysis showed that education (β = −.125, p =.025) and personal experience (β = −.132, p =.008) correlated negatively with attitudes towards the older adults, while the end-of-life care (β =.140, p =.013) and empathy (β =.285, p