Although elder abuse has received much attention in recent years, little is known about long-term care staff perceptions of active and passive abuse. Health care professionals (N=72) responsible for direct care of patients within a 275-bed skilled nursing facility completed questionnaires on elder abuse. Responses were from physicians (N=6), registered nurses (N=18), licensed practical nurses (N=13), nurse aides (N=21), physician extenders (N=4), allied health professionals (N=6), and dietary staff (N=4). Data from the registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, nurse aide, and physician groups were analyzed and compared using the student t-test. The results revealed that nurse aides had significantly lower scores than the nurse and physician groups, and that age and length of experience in long-term care in the nurse aide group were strongly correlated with misconceptions regarding elder abuse. Nurse aides with less than 5 years of long-term care experience or who were under 40 years of age were more frequently noted to have misconceptions regarding elder abuse. These findings suggest that the issue of elder abuse must be addressed in inservice training programs within long-term care settings and that both passive and active forms of abuse must be emphasized. The study instrument is appended. (Author/NB)