ABSTRACT
As the population of older people increases in the United States, many gerontolo-gists have increased their interest in the impact of professional caregivers’ age-related attitudes toward older patients. Nurses’ negative attitudes toward the aged often mar the care given to older persons. The scarcity of geriatric curricula in nursing education and the fact that most nurses choose to work with patients of younger age groups is a reflection of these negative attitudes. Several studies have found that nursing home personnel with high levels of death anxiety have significantly more negative attitudes toward the elderly as compared to nursing home personnel with low levels of death anxiety. Race is another variable that influences the level of death anxiety in individuals. However, few researchers have assessed death anxiety in relationship to race in a meaningful manner.
