老年看護学実習前後における 看護学生の高齢者イメージの変化と影響要因

The objective of this study was to clarify changes in nursing students’image of the elderly after gerontological nursing practice and the factors influencing these changes. A questionnaire survey using the elderly image scale was carried out in 201 third-year nursing students at a nursing university before and after gerontological nursing practice in 2017-2019, and the responses were statistically analyzed. Eighty-eight students who responded before and after the practical training (valid response rate: 43.8%) were included in the analysis. The nursing students’image scores of the elderly showed changes after the practice except for cooperation. Furthermore, influencing factors on the image of the elderly included the practice facility with an impact on four factors: competence, activity/independence, well-being, and social extraversion, and the presence of aphasia or dysarthria affecting competence and activity/independence. It was revealed that students who practice in special nursing homes and those who care for the elderly with aphasia or dysarthria tend to have difficulty in positively changing their image of the elderly. To form a positive image of the elderly among students, the results highlight the importance of educational approaches for training instructors and faculty members to convey their own perceptions of the elderly to students, and to help students become able to focus on the elderly's strengths based on current conditions and life histories, in addition to consolidating and integrating gerontological nursing knowledge learned before the practice.