Attitudes of Nursing Students towards Individuals with Mental Illness before Doing the Mental Health Nursing Course

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the undergraduate nursing students' attitudes toward individuals with mental illness. Furthermore, it was important to study the perception, attitude, of our students regarding mental illness, which will help in improving the care given to the mentally ill in the hospitals or in the community. A total of 110 undergraduate students were selected using the stratified random method. Data for the study were collected through the use of a questionnaire. The data were coded and entered into SPSS version 20. The findings of this study indicated that 30% of the nursing students agreed that "the best way to treat the mentally ill is to keep them at the hospital for years", 59% disagreed with the statement "Whenever a person starts showing signs of mental illness they should be taken to the health facility for treatment", and (34%) reported that the mentally ill should not be spoken to about their sexual practices. It is noteworthy to report that 61% of the respondents from this study would not be comfortable working with a mentally ill co-worker who is maintaining their treatment regimen. Reducing the stigmatization of mental illness continues to be an important goal for mental health professionals. Every student nurse needs to be grounded in the basic principles of communicating with the mentally ill patients and provide patient-centered care in a culturally sensitive way. Considering the results of the present study, it seems that revision of the teaching strategies and modification of mental health educational programs of nursing schools are necessary.

Primary health care nurses attitude towards people with severe mental disorders in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: a cross sectional study

“…The odds of having negative attitude among nurses with poor knowledge about mental illness were 2.83 times higher as compared to nurses with good knowledge. This aligns with the findings in the WHO report and a study conducted in Sweden [8, 29] which could be explained by lack of adequate training and less supervision by mental health teams as a cause of lack of knowledge. Accordingly, it might be argued that increased level of training have the effect of bringing about a decrease in negative attitude among nurses concerning people with mental disorders and this would reinforce the impression that increased level of knowledge about mental illness has a direct bearing on attitude development among the nurses [30].…”

“…There were reports of stigmatizing behaviors from health care workers towards patients with SMD which includes offering discouraging advice, negative remarks, rejecting behavior, and negative attitudes [6, 7]. Taking this in account, the attitudes and knowledge of nurses on mental illness have been argued to be a major determinant of the quality and inclusive care for people with mental illness [8].…”

“…There is high prevalence of nurse’s attitude regarding patients with severe mental disorder across the globe such as Switzerland (55.2%), Jamaica (61%), Nigeria (53%), Zimbabwe (75.6%), Tanzania (58.9%) and Kenya (75%) [8–12]. In Ethiopia, the prevalence ranges from 27 to 57% [13, 14] but the report was about general nurses attitude rather than primary health care workers.…”

Nursing Students’ Attitudes toward Working in Mental Health Facilities in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Notably, significant disparities were observed in specific questionnaire items, such as Q22 from the BMI questionnaire, indicating that students exposed to the psychiatry course were more inclined to work with and trust mentally ill colleagues compared to their counterparts who did not take the course. This finding resonates with Pusey-Murray's study [20] on Jamaican nursing students, which found that a considerable percentage of participants were uncomfortable working with mentally ill colleagues, highlighting the pervasive stigma associated with mental health issues. However, contrary to prior research indicating significant attitude shifts towards mental illness across different academic years, the current study found no significant relationship between negative views frequency and exposure to the psychiatry course.…”

Knowledge and attitude toward depression among healthcare professionals working in Ilu Aba Bor zone, Oromia regional state, Ethiopia, 2021: a cross sectional study

“…There have been allegations of health professionals stigmatizing people with severe mental disorders (SMD), through delivering words of discouragement, making negative statements, rejecting behavior, and having negative attitudes ( 12 , 13 ). Given this stigmatiztion, it has been suggested that the mental health literacy of healthcare professionals on depression is a significant driver of the quality and inclusiveness of care for those with depressive disorders ( 14 ).…”