EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP OF NURSING STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS ELDERLY INDIVIDUALS AND THEIR LEVELS OF COMPASSION WITH THE FACTORS INFLUENTIAL ON THEM

Today, the changes that occur with aging are met negatively in most of the societies in the world, and elderly individuals are exposed to discrimination. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of nursing students' attitudes towards elderly individuals and their levels of compassion with the factors influential on them. The study is of descriptive type. The study was carried out with the 2nd grade, 3rd grade and 4th grade nursing students (n:508). In the study, the independent variables that had a statistically significant relationship with the dependent variables were subjected to the stepwise multiple linear regression analysis. The mean age of the nursing students participating in the study was 21.22±1.47, and 78.1% of them were women. The students' mean scores were 48.85±5.00 in the UCLA geriatric attitude scale and 99.17±10.98 in the compassion scale. It was found that compassion, willingness to work with elderly individuals after graduation, the place the elderly person should stay in (in a nursing home, in their own home), perceived compassion fatigue level (mild), father's education level (undergraduate level and above), and problems experienced in social relations with elderly individuals were significant predictors of the nursing students’ attitudes towards elderly individuals. It was revealed that nursing students’ positive attitudes towards the elderly individual increased as their levels of compassion increased. It was seen that the students who had a mild level of compassion fatigue and who wanted to work with elderly individuals after graduation had more positive attitudes. Morevoer, it was found that the students who thought that elderly individuals should stay in a nursing home or in their own home, whose father's education level was undergraduate level and above, and who had problems in social relations with elderly individuals had more negative attitudes.