Educating for an aging society:competencies, knowledge and attitude and how to motivate students

Introduction: Due to an aging populationmore nurses will encounter vulnerable patientsin their daily work. Our health care systemfaces huge challenges with regard to thedemand on care for the older adults and thecompetencies of nurses required to meet thisdemand. Several studies demonstrated thatnursing (aides) curricula are not adequate toprepare nursing (aides) students for the demographicchanges.Other research report that many nurses have anegative attitude towards and lack knowledgeabout older patients. However, many of theinstruments used for this type of research areconsidered outdated, too country-specific ordo not include a patient focus or caring perspective.Measuring knowledge and attitude isan important first step in enhancing attitudeand knowledge.Aim: To determine essential competencies andrecommendations for educational strategiesfor the education of nurses and nurse assistantsregarding care for older adults. Presentingthe development, validation and reliabilityresults of the Knowledge about Older Patient -Quiz (KOP-Q) and the Older Patient in AcuteCare Survey (OPACS). These two measurementinstruments demonstrate promisingresults for measuring nurses’ knowledge ofand attitude towards older patients. Furthermore,new ways to motivate students: a seriousgame for educating nurses, will bepresented