Measuring nurse's knowledge about the facts of aging period in educational hospitals of Bushehr in 2012

Introduction and One of the important issues emerged in the international health care system is aging of the population. The role of nurses as professional care-providers for aged people، who are considered as major consumers of health care services، is very important. Thereby، this study aimed to assess nurses'' knowledge on aging- related facts. This descriptive-analytic study conducted among 144 nurses working at two educational hospitals in Bushehr. Nurses'' knowledge was measured using the FAQI Palmor self-administrated questionnaires which is a valid and reliable tool. Data were analyzed by descriptive and analytical (ANOVA and Independent T) statistics. Our findings showed that out of 25 questions in the FAQI questionnaire، the minimum and maximum correct response was 6 and 17 respectively، with a reported mean score of 10. 68 ± 2. 29. The majority of nurses (82%) had a moderate level of knowledge (9-17 points) and none of them had a high level of knowledge (above 17 points). Nurses’ performance might be adversely affected by lack of knowledge. The results of this study would help us to clearly identify those areas of weaknesses that required to be improved for providing high quality care to the vulnerable group of elderly. In order to generalize the results of this study، it would be beneficial to conduct further studies with larger sample size as well as simultaneous evaluation of nurses’ knowledge and attitudes toward aging.