Ageism, gerontological nursing and healthcare contexts

Ageism, gerontological nursing and healthcare contexts

Professors Kathleen Hunter and Sherry Dahlke from the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Nursing explain why gerontological nursing education is key to addressing the unconscious negative stereotypes about ageing and improving care for older adults. Ageism is worldwide and is apparent in healthcare professions and health systems. (1) This is partly due to healthcare systems, particularly hospitals, that are institutionally ageist because they are designed for younger people with one acute condition rather than the majority of users who are older adults with chronic and acute conditions. (2) Moreover, healthcare professionals, of which nurses are the largest group that interact with patients, may be unconscious about their negative biases towards older people. Nurses’ unconscious biases are often demonstrated by overaccommodating older patients due to an underlying belief that older people are less capable. (3) Nurses may feel pressured to engage in overaccommodation to save time because they are working in hospitals where they experience time constraints due to short staffing, lack of material resources, and hospital cultures that focus on medical acuity. (4)