Challenging the discourses of nursing ageism

This paper challenges the discourses of nursing ageism constructed by studies of nurses' attitudes and career preferences by arguing that they do not take into account the links between discourse, power and social processes.

Abstract

The nursing literature is replete with reports of nursing negativity in relation to elderly people. The bulk of these reports are based on studies of nurses' attitudes and career preferences. This paper challenges the discourses of nursing ageism constructed by these studies by arguing that they do not take into account the links between discourse, power and social processes. Data were obtained using semi-structured questionnaires and interviews in order to explore student nurses' reasons for undertaking a nursing degree course, their career specialty preferences, the rationale behind these preferences and their views of working with elderly patients. All transcripts were subjected to both content analysis and discourse analysis. The findings reveal no clear link between attitudes towards elderly care and career preferences and little evidence of ageism.