Explaining Nurses’ Perception of the Causes of Ageism in Hospital Settings

Objective: Given the aging population increase, providing quality care to the elderly is one of the major challenges of health care systems. The purpose of the present study is to explain the perception of nurses about the causes of ageism in providing hospital care to the elderly referred to hospital settings in the city of Tehran. Methods: The study utilized a qualitative design with individual interviews and with Conventional Content Analysis Approach. In this qualitative study, participants were selected through a purposive sampling method. Semi-structured and in-depth interviews with health care providers were conducted in the city of Tehran in 2018 guided by data saturation. All interviews were recorded and implemented and then analyzed by Graneheim and Lundman method. Results: Analysis of data extracted from interviews divided into five main categories “patient related factors”, “care provider related factors”, “factors related to care provider system”, “socio-economic factors” and “ family related factors”, each of which was under positive and negative subcategories. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that there is a negative discrimination in the provision of nursing care services in the hospital settings, which is not a good predictor of good health care for the elderly. Therefore, it is recommended that culture-building, training and awareness-raising and proper planning be carried out in care settings to combat ageism