Death Concern and Attitudes toward the Elderly in Nursing Home Personnel as a Function of Training

Abstract

The present project investigated the relationship between death fear, attitudes toward the elderly, and personal anxiety toward one's own aging in a group of nursing home employees. Contrary to predictions, nursing professionals (i.e., Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses) did not have higher levels of death concern when compared to Nursing Assistants; in fact, Nursing Assistants had higher levels of death concerns on four components of death fear (fear of the dead, fear of the unknown, fear of consciousness when dead, and fear for body after death). The results also indicated that Nursing Assistants displayed significantly fewer positive attitudes toward the elderly than did nursing professionals.