Abstract
Aim
Understanding nursing students’ perceptions of elderly care may help improve the recruitment of nurses in elderly care. The aim of this study was to investigate the knowledge, attitudes and practice of elderly care among nursing students in China.
Subject and methods
This cross-sectional study surveyed 4402 nursing students from 10 regions of China during 10–16 October, 2022. The questionnaire included five sections: demographic information, knowledge dimension, attitude dimension, employment intensions and choice of job type, and practice dimension. Factors associated with practice score were identified by multivariate logistic regression analysis.
Results
A total of 4402 student nursing students were enrolled, including 3606 (81.92%) females. The scores for all five sections of the questionnaire differed significantly according to education level, experience of living with the elderly, experience of caring for the elderly, and experience of being cared for by grandparents (all P<0.05). Pearson correlation analysis showed that knowledge score, attitude score, factors influencing employment intensions, choice of job type score and practice score were significantly correlated with each other (P<0.05, respectively). Attitude score (odds ratio [OR], 1.45; 95% confidence interval [95%CI], 1.40-1.51; P<0.001), factors influencing employment intensions score (OR, 0.91; 95%CI, 0.90-0.93; P<0.001) and choice of job type score (OR, 2.73; 95%CI, 2.44-3.05; P<0.001) were independently associated with practice score.
Conclusion
Moderate education level (junior college or undergraduate as opposed to secondary technical or postgraduate) and greater experience of living with the elderly, caring for the elderly or being cared for by grandparents are associated with better knowledge, attitudes, and practices of elderly care among nursing students in China.
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Data availability
All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article [and its supplementary information files].
Code availability
Not applicable.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Dr. **g Cui, Dr. Mingzhu He, Dr. Yue Liu, Dr. Yunhong Lei, and Dr. Ying Guo for their support in liaison and questionnaire distribution, more than 20 nursing colleges that involved in the questionnaire survey, all the nursing students who participated in this study, and the nursing department of the Nursing Department of **dingshan First People's Hospital for their professional support and assistance.
Funding
This study was funded by the Education Department of Henan Province and the Science and Technology Bureau of **dingshan City, First-class Undergraduate course Construction project of Henan Province (online and offline hybrid course) (grant numbers [2021] 21548); 2021 **dingshan Smart Nursing Key Laboratory.
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Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Yi Zhang、 Fengxia Wang: Conceptualization;
Yi Zhang、 Fengxia Wang: Methodology;
**n Li: Software;
Zhanglin Wang: Validation;
Yi Zhang、 Feng xia Wang、Yongle Wang: Formal analysis;
**n Li、 Yi Zhang: Investigation;
Huimin Zhang、 Yu hong Wu: Resources;
Fengxia Wang: Data Curation;
Yi Zhang: Writing - Original Draft;
Jihong Wang、 Yuhong Wu: Writing - Review & Editing;
Yi Zhang、 Fengxia Wang: Visualization;
Yongle Wang: Supervision;
Yi Zhang: Project administration;
Jihong Wang: Funding acquisition;
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The study was approved by the Ethical Committee on Biological and Medical Ethics of **dingshan University, and informed consent was obtained from all the study participants. This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.
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Supplementary Table 1
Pearson correlation analysis of the dimension scores. (DOCX 15 kb)
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Zhang, Y., Wang, F., Wang, Y. et al. Knowledge, attitudes and practice (KAP) of elderly care among nursing students in China. J Public Health (Berl.) (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-023-01978-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-023-01978-2