Factors associated with geriatric nursing performance of nurses in orthopedic units: A cross-sectional descriptive study.

PURPOSE: Nurses in orthopedic units (OUs) play an important role in managing pain, promoting functional recovery, and preventing complications associated with prolonged bed rest in older patients. This study aimed to investigate the factors associated with geriatric nursing performance of nurses in OUs.

METHODS

The subjects included 131 nurses in OUs from four hospitals in Korea. A structured self-reported questionnaire was administered to assess the subjects' general characteristics, geriatric nursing stress, resilience, positive nursing organizational culture, and geriatric nursing performance. Collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple linear regression.

RESULTS

A total of 131 subjects with a mean (±standard deviation) age of 30.61 (±6.70) years were included in the final analyses. In the final multiple regression analysis, the factors significantly associated with geriatric nursing performance were age ≥40 years (β=.23, p=.002), experience living with older adults (β=.20, p=.004), resilience (β=.33, p<.001), and a positive nursing organizational culture (β=.36, p<.001). The explanatory power of the above factors for geriatric nursing performance was 40.0% (F=18.52, p<.001).

CONCLUSION

Improving nurses' resilience and fostering a positive nursing organizational culture in OUs may contribute to improving geriatric nursing performance and positively impact the quality of geriatric nursing care.