The teaching of gerontological nursing in Brazilian public higher education institutions

Abstract

Objective

To describe the current state of nursing education regarding the care of older adults in Brazilian public higher education institutions

Method

Documentary, descriptive research with qualitative approach, with data from July 2017 collected in the platform of the Ministry of Education. Information on nursing undergraduate courses in public universities was collected following three phases of access and data collection: identification, selection and eligibility. There was a descriptive analysis for characterization and qualitative Inductive Thematic Analysis using Interface de R pour les Analyses Multidimensionnelles de Textes et de Questionnaires (IRAMUTEQ). The project followed the ethical norms of Resolution 510/2016 of the National Health Council.

Results

The 87 universities selected offered 154 undergraduate nursing courses, mostly in the Northeast Region. Out of the total number of courses, 69 (44.8%) had mixed disciplines (covering care of older adults) and 53 (34.4%) had specific disciplines on health of the older adult. In the content of the syllabi, the terms most used in the construction of the word cloud were: health (162), older adult (154), nursing (113), adult (81), assistance (72), process (69) and attention (52). In the similarity analysis, three main organizing topics of the disciplines related to this theme were observed: health, nursing and older adult.

Conclusion

Nursing education needs to be aligned with current public policies and consistent with the health care model proposed. Therefore, the training offered must be consistent with the current demands of the labor market.

Aged; Geriatric nursing; Nursing education; Teaching; Higher education institutions