Abstract
Introduction:Knowledge of nurses regarding elder abuse can be helpful in decisions about on-time and appropriate interventions. Our aim was to assess the relationship between recognition of nursing staff toward elder abuse and their attitudes, and performance in dealing with elder abuse induced by Iranian family caregivers.Methods:In this descriptive study, 400 nurses were selected, using cluster sampling, from nurses working in public or private hospitals in Iran. Data collection was performed using questionnaires measuring elder abuse symptom recognition, attitudes, and performance.Results:There is a significant relationship between the total scores for recognition of symptoms and elder abuse potential risk factors (p=0.05) and the nurses’ attitudes and performance scores (p = 0.001). There was no significant difference between the nurses’ performance and recognition scores (p = 0.14).Conclusion:Interventions to promote nurses’ recognitionviain-service educational programs can improve nurses’ performance in different levels of abuse prevention and the quality of nursing care for the elderly.
Highlights
Knowledge of nurses regarding elder abuse can be helpful in decisions about on-time and appropriate interventions
58% showed a tendency for reporting elder abuse cases and 52% of them felt confident about their ability to recognize and understand the phenomenon
56.8% of the participants recognized elder abuse as a prevalent phenomenon in society and 38.5% of them believed that reporting elder abuse cases is the duty of doctors and nurses, while 55.8% indicated that it is the duty of social workers
Summary
Knowledge of nurses regarding elder abuse can be helpful in decisions about on-time and appropriate interventions. Our aim was to assess the relationship between recognition of nursing staff toward elder abuse and their attitudes, and performance in dealing with elder abuse induced by Iranian family caregivers. The increasing incidence of chronic diseases in the elderly population increases their care needs. The pressures and financial problems induced by long-term caregiving for the elderly can be factors in elder abuse by family caregivers [1]. It is generally agreed that the healthcare team, especially nurses, plays an important role in identifying, reporting, and preventing elder abuse, as they closely communicate with elder patients during care. Nurses have been dissatisfied with the response of authorities to their reports of abuse [12].
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