| Abstract: | We examined the attitudes of 101 geriatric nurses toward behavior problems in 5 long-term care facilities. The survey consisted of two sections. Section 1 assessed nurses' attitudes about the significance and treatment of behavior problems, and their current abilities in managing these problems. In section 2, nurses were asked to rate 22 behavior problems in terms of their frequencies of occurrence in their facility. Results indicate that nurses consider behavior problems to be of great significance, although they were uncertain whether their training had adequately prepared them to manage these problems. Nurses were also uncertain about the efficacy of psychotropic medications in managing behavior problems, but were more agreeable with the statement that behavioral procedures could be used effectively to manage these problems. Twenty of the 22 behavior problems were reported to occur at least occasionally, with 6 problems occurring frequently to all-the-time and 9 problems occurring at the high end of occasionally to frequently. Comparisons of RN/LPN responses were examined, and implications of the results for geriatric nurses' training were discussed. |
