Abstract
Norwegian geriatric health care services are in great need of qualified nursing personnel. Recruiting registered nurses to care for the elderly is a challenge for both the Norwegian society as such and for this country's educational institutions. The purpose of this study was to identify factors which make nurses choose geriatric nursing as their professional career. The primary question was What are the characteristics of student nurses who prefer to work with elderly clients? A questionnaire was distributed among 341 students who were in their first, second, or third year of their nursing studies. The students' attitudes to and experiences with elderly people were identified, together with their work preferences. 9,2 % of the students prefer to work with elderly clients. Major traits in these students are: a positive attitude towards elderly people combined with work experience from this group of clients—work experiences these students perceive as more positive than do students who prefer to work with children or adults. Furthermore, many of the students who want to work with elderly clients have more than two years of such clinical work experience prior to entering nurses' training. Student nurses who prefer working with elderly clients also have experienced a more positive attitude towards the elderly in their teachers than the rest of the students do.
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