How does geriatric nursing education program change the knowledge, attitude and working intention among undergraduate nursing students? A systematic literature review

Abstract

Objective: This review aimed to examine the changes of knowledge, attitude and working intention in nursing students after an undergraduate geriatric nursing education. Design: A systematic review of the literature. Data sources: Five databases which included CINAHL, MEDLINE, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science were searched for this literature review from January 2010 to October 2020. Review methods: The review was registered in PROSPERO registry with registration number CRD42020215703. The review examined undergraduate nursing education programs in terms of knowledge, attitude and working intention towards geriatric care among undergraduate nursing students as outcomes. We used JBI critical appraisal tools and Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool to evaluate and assess the quality of the retrieved research papers. Results: The search yielded 19 studies included in the final review, 14 of which were quantitative studies and five were qualitative studies. Four types of education programs were identified. These were type 1, a four-year undergraduate gerontology program consisting of geriatric theory and geriatric care clinical placement; type 2, stand-alone geriatric subject and geriatric clinical placement program; type 3, integrated geriatric subject and geriatric clinical placement program; type 4, solely geriatric clinical placement program. The review found that the type 2 program demonstrated the best educational outcomes in undergraduate students. Conclusions: This review provided the most recent literature evidence pertaining to undergraduate geriatric education program and its educational outcomes. Future research should focus on the evaluating the content of each type of geriatric education program to inform the development of undergraduate geriatric nursing education.