Knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of geriatric nursing care among nurses at specialised hospitals in North-West Ethiopia: a facility-based, mixed-methods, cross-sectional survey

OBJECTIVES: To assess the level of knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of nurses regarding geriatric nursing care, and to identify factors associated with these outcomes among nurses working in specialised hospitals in North-West Ethiopia. DESIGN: Facility-based, mixed-methods study, consisting of a cross-sectional survey and qualitative interviews. SETTING: Specialised hospitals in the Gojjam area, North-West Ethiopia. The study was conducted from 25 October to 30 November 2024. PARTICIPANTS: For the survey component, 424 nurses were selected using simple random sampling. Twelve nurses were purposively selected for the qualitative in-depth interviews. OUTCOME MEASURES: Knowledge and attitudes towards geriatric nursing care were measured using the Knowledge of Participants Questionnaire and the Older People in Acute Care Survey. Logistic regression identified factors associated with knowledge and attitudes. Qualitative data were analysed thematically. RESULTS: 44.6% (95% CI 39.8% to 49.4%) of nurses had good knowledge and 45.3% (95% CI 40.5% to 50.2%) had a favourable attitude towards geriatric nursing care. Knowledge was significantly associated with being female (AOR 1.61; 95% CI 1.02 to 2.43), holding a diploma (AOR 0.40; 95% CI 0.17 to 0.93), holding a degree (AOR 0.32; 95% CI 0.16 to 0.65), having 6-10 years of experience (AOR 0.48; 95% CI 0.31 to 0.74) and room adequacy (AOR 0.63; 95% CI 0.42 to 0.95). Attitude was associated with 6-10 years of work experience (AOR 0.65; 95% CI 0.43 to 0.99) and working in academic hospitals (AOR 0.34; 95% CI 0.21 to 0.53). Qualitative findings highlighted gaps in training, workload challenges and environmental limitations. CONCLUSION: Less than half of nurses had good knowledge or favourable attitudes towards geriatric nursing care. Gender, educational level, experience and room adequacy were associated with knowledge, while experience and hospital type were associated with differing attitudes. Integrating geriatric nursing into the curriculum and allocating adequate resources are recommended.