While the population ages, patients in surgical wards are also getting older which leads to a growing need for gerontological skills. Although there has been increasing interest for gerontology among students and professionals, there is still a lot to do. One of the biggest challenges in this concern, is changing attitudes.

The objective of the study was to describe nurses gerontological skills in surgical wards. The target of the study was to get information about current gerontological skills among nurses and to enable the development of gerontological skills both at the hospital and at nursing school.

This is a study with a qualitative research approach and the data was collected during summer and autumn of 2016 by using theme interview. I interviewed three nurses from the two different surgical wards in Oulu University hospital. Data was analyzed through content analysis.

According to the research results nurses think that the gerontological skill set requires extensive knowledge and clinical skills as well as strong interaction skills and the ability to do the job individually. Lack of resources, the hurried enviroment and the attitudes of people lower the the quality of care. A change in attitude is not only necessary for the patients and close relatives, but also for the nursing staff themselves.

The study was ordered by the surgical wards and can be utilized in their evaluation of the staff´s gerontologial skills. The results can also be utilized in developing nursing education. In the future the research could be repeated in other nursing units and results could be compared. In the next research, the analysis could go more in depth on the gerontological interaction and ethical skills.