[The effect of senior simulation on nurses' attitude toward the elderly].

Purpose: This study was performed to explore the effect of senior simulation on nurses' attitudes toward the elderly.

Method: Twenty-seven nurses working in various settings such as acute hospitals, community health centers, geriatric hospitals, and clinics were recruited. Among them, 25 subjects completed the whole experimental protocol. Aging Semantic Differential Scaling was utilized to evaluate attitudes toward the elderly and 'Suit for Experiencing Being Aged' from the Sakamoto Model was provided for the experiment. Before and after the experiment subjects filled out questionnaires.

Result: Attitude score before experiment was 4.36, which indicates neutral attitude. Objective attitude scores were not different significantly after experiment. However subjective statements indicated attitude changes in a positive way.

Conclusion: Senior simulation can affect nurses' attitude toward elderly in subjective way. That is, nurses became more empathetic and understanding to elderly's physical limitations and felt more initiative nursing approach were needed in caring elderly.