Abstract:
Introduction:The quality of care given to elderly individuals is affected by the
occupational knowledge, skills and experience of caregivers. The study aimed to assess
nurses knowledge and attitude about elderly patients care and associated factors at
Western Amhara Referral Hospitals, Ethiopia,2020.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from March15 to May15/2020 among
nurses working in Western Amhara Referral Hospitals .A total of 540 participants were
enrolled in the study .A stratified simple random sampling technique was used to select
the study participants. The questionnaire adapted from Knowledge about Older
Patients-Quiz and Older People in Acute Care Survey was used to measure knowledge
and attitude respectively. Epi info version 7.2.1.0 for data entry and SPSS version 20 for
data analysis were used.Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis was
conducted.Odd ratio with 95% CI and p-value <0.05 with 95% CI were considered to be
significant factors.
Result: A total of 540 participants were enrolled in the study with a response
rate of 94.4%.Nurses knowledge and attitude towards elder patient care were 36.3%(95
%CI:32-40.8) and 39.6% (95%CI:35.4-43.9) respectively. Participants with bachelors de
gree (AOR=2.848,95%CI:1.148-7.064),masters degree (AOR=3.338,95%CI:1.064-10.4
73),6-10 year of experience (AOR=1.618,95%CI:1.074-2.439) and >10 year experience(
AOR=2.327,95%CI:1.354-3.999) had significant association with knowledge.Similarly,pa
rticipants with bachelors degree (AOR=2.999,95%CI:1.194-7.532),masters degree(AOR
=6.494,95%CI:2.030-20.772),living with an elder person (AOR=1.830,95%CI:1.159-2.89
1)and effective communication of nurses (AOR=1.495,95%CI:1.027-2.178) had significa
nt association with attitude.
Conclusion and recommendations: More than half of nurses were not knowledgeable
and had unfavorable attitude towards care of elder patient. Level of education and year
of experience were factors associated with knowledge of nurses. Whereas, level of
education, living with an elder person and communication of nurses were factors
associated with nurse’s attitude. Therefore,Staff development should be planned and
implemented. Key words: Knowledge, Attitude, Care, Nurses, Elder, Ethiopia
