ATTITUDES OF PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL RAB NURSES TOWARDS THE ELDERLY

U društvu u kojem starije osobe čine gotovo četvrtinu populacije iznimno je važno imati pozitivne stavove prema starijim osobama, kao i točne informacije o procesu starenja i starosnim promjenama, tim više za zdravstvene djelatnike. Cilj rada bila je procjena znanja i stavova medicinskih sestara Psihijatrijske bolnice Rab o starenju i starijim osobama. Podatci su prikupljeni anonimnim upitnikom i testom znanja o starenju. Istraživanje je pokazalo da ispitanici imaju pretežno pozitivne stavove prema starijim osobama, utvrđena je korelacija dobi ispitanika i njihove procjene najniže kronološke dobi u kojoj smatraju čovjeka starim, te je pronađena statistički značajna razlika u odgovorima ispitanika s obzirom na dob i spol ispitanika u jednom pitanju, te s obzirom na iskustvo rada sa starijim osobama u jednom pitanju. Preko 47% ispitanika odgovorilo je točno na 75% i više pitanja, a najmanji broj točnih odgovora bio je pet, tj. 42% pitanja. Daljnja edukacija djelatnika mogla bi se usredotočiti na isticanje važnosti preventivnih mjera, svakodnevne aktivnosti i odbacivanja štetnih navika kao glavnih faktora u uspješnom starenju.In a society where elderly comprise almost a quarter of population having positive attitudes towards elderly and correct information about aging and change that comes with it is very important, especially for health workers. The aim of this paper was to assess the knowledge and attitudes of the nurses working in Psychiatric hospital Rab towards aging and the elderly. The data was collected using an anonymous questionnaire and a knowledge quiz. The research showed that respondents have mostly positive attitudes towards elderly, a correlation between respondents age and their assessment of the lowest chronological age they consider to be elderly was determined and a statistically significant difference was found in between respondents answers, considering their sex and age in one question, and their experience in working with elderly patients in another. Over 47% of respondents answered correctly to 75% or more questions in the administered knowledge quiz, while the lowest correct score was five, or just 42% of the questions. Further education of the personel could emphasise the importance of preventive measures, everyday physical activity a dropping bad habits as key factors in successful ageing