de Almeida Tavares João Paulo, da Silva Alcione Leite, Sá-Couto Pedro, Boltz Marie, Capezuti Elizabeth
Emergency room, Coimbra University Hospital, Coimbra, Portugal; University of Porto and Aveiro, Porto, Portugal.
Scand J Caring Sci. 2015 Mar;29(1):51-61. doi: 10.1111/scs.12124. Epub 2014 Mar 13.
Portugal is impacted by the rapid growth of the aging population, which has significant implications for its health care system. However, nurses have received little education focusing on the unique and complex care needs of older adults. This gap in the nurses' education has an enormous impact in their knowledge and attitudes and affects the quality of nursing care provided to older adults. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1068 Portuguese nurses in five hospitals (northern and central region) with the following purposes: (i) explore the knowledge and attitudes of nurses about four common geriatric syndromes (pressure ulcer, incontinence, restraint use and sleep disturbance) in Portuguese hospitals; and (ii) evaluate the influence of demographic, professional and nurses' perception about hospital educational support, geriatric knowledge, and burden of caring for older adults upon geriatric nursing knowledge and attitudes. The mean knowledge and attitudes scores were 0.41 ± 0.15 and 0.40 ± 0.21, respectively (the maximum score was 1). Knowledge of nurses in Portuguese hospitals about the four geriatric syndromes (pressure ulcers, sleep disturbance, urinary incontinence and restraint use) was found inadequate. The nurses' attitudes towards caring for hospitalized older adults were generally negative. Nurses who work in academic hospitals demonstrated significantly more knowledge than nurses in hospital centers. The attitudes of nurses were significantly associated with the hospital and unit type, region, hospital educational support, staff knowledge, and perceived burden of caring for older adults. The study findings support the need for improving nurses' knowledge and attitudes towards hospitalized older adults and implementing evidence-based guidelines in their practice.
葡萄牙受到人口老龄化快速增长的影响，这对其医疗保健系统具有重大影响。然而，护士接受的针对老年人独特而复杂护理需求的教育很少。护士教育方面的这一差距对他们的知识和态度产生了巨大影响，并影响了为老年人提供的护理质量。在葡萄牙北部和中部地区五家医院的1068名护士中进行了一项横断面研究，目的如下：(i) 探讨葡萄牙医院护士对四种常见老年综合征（压疮、失禁、约束使用和睡眠障碍）的知识和态度；(ii) 评估人口统计学、专业因素以及护士对医院教育支持、老年护理知识和照顾老年人负担的认知对老年护理知识和态度的影响。知识和态度的平均得分分别为0.41±0.15和0.40±0.21（满分1分）。研究发现，葡萄牙医院护士对四种老年综合征（压疮、睡眠障碍、尿失禁和约束使用）的了解不足。护士对照顾住院老年人的态度总体上是消极的。在学术医院工作的护士表现出的知识明显多于医院中心的护士。护士的态度与医院和科室类型、地区、医院教育支持、工作人员知识以及照顾老年人的感知负担显著相关。研究结果支持需要提高护士对住院老年人的知识和态度，并在实践中实施循证指南。
