Why do not nursing students choose to work with the elderly? A literature review [Perchè gli studenti infermieri non scelgono di lavorare con gli anziani? Una revisione della letteratura] .

Introduction. Despite the growth of the elderly population and therequest for healthcare services which can respond to the needs expressedby the aged, it seems that nurses do not show special interest for geriatriccare, preferring other clinical fields such as intensive care units, surgeryor paediatric wards instead. As today’s nursing students will be tomorrow’snurses their intention of working with the elderly is a matter thatis worthwhile analyzing. For this reason a revision of the literature hasbeen carried out aiming at identifying the factors influencing students’choice of a geriatric workplace.Methods. Databases PubMed and CINHAL were consulted and thefollowing search terms were used: nursing students or student nurse,aged or elderly, career or choice or intentions, and work or workplace oremployment. The articles selected have been published in the last twentyyears and include primary researches.Results. The factors most frequently considered have been: students’attitude towards elderly people and towards working with them, age, sex,working activity, income, previous working experiences with elderlypeople, educational experiences. At the end of their education nursingstudents have a more positive approach towards elderly people althoughthey do not show preference for working in healthcare facilities forthe elderly. The experiences carried out in clinical environments andprofessional models learnt seem to have an influence on their decisions.Furthermore they feel the need of building up their technical skills inhospital for acute patients.Discussion. Teachers should pay more attention to the curricula,not only increasing the hours devoted to geriatrics and gerontology, butalso selecting significant training experiences with healthy as well asill elderly people, guided by expert personnel capable of transmittinga positive care model. Furthermore nursing researchers and academicshave to keep alive the discussion on the nature of nursing care. In factthere is a risk that more value might be stressed upon the curing aspectsof nursing, underestimating nursing practice in geriatric environments where the caring aspects prevail instead.