Integrating mental health care services in primary health care clinics: a survey of primary health care nurses’ knowledge, attitudes and beliefs

Abstract

Background: Nurses are the main providers of care at primary health care (PHC) clinics; the high incidence of mental health problems at these clinics means that PHC nurses are important providers of mental health care. The PHC nurses’ knowledge regarding provision and identification of mental health problems has been shown to be poor. Aim: The study aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs concerning the care of psychiatric patients at PHC level amongst nurses.Setting: The study was conducted in uThungulu Health District in the Northern Area of KwaZulu-Natal Province. Six clinics were purposively selected based on their geographical location.Methods: The study used a quantitative survey using a structured questionnaire. Simple descriptive analysis and one-way ANOVA were used to analyse the data.Results: The study revealed that 39% of the nurses were between the ages of 41 and 50 years and 92% were females. The association between past experience in working with psychiatric patients and positive attitude of nurses was found to be significant.Conclusion: This study found that PHC nurses’ attitudes and beliefs towards people with mental illness were positive. PHC nurses were found to have inadequate knowledge to manage psychiatric patients.

Perspective Chapter: Integrating Follow-up Care Management for Assessment and Management of Rape Survivors Diagnosed with PTSD and Depression in Primary Health Care Settings

“…The nurses that register for a 4-year degree or diploma are taught psychiatric nursing, and when they complete their courses, they are placed either in the hospital or primary health care to care for the patients consulting in these settings. Furthermore, the literature review illustrated that to ensure that mental health conditions are appropriately identified and managed, primary health care clinics must have psychiatric-trained nurses on staff [15]. Furthermore, most nurses have a 4-year Diploma in Nursing, indicating that psychiatric nursing training is well represented in primary health care clinics [15].…”

“…Furthermore, the literature review illustrated that to ensure that mental health conditions are appropriately identified and managed, primary health care clinics must have psychiatric-trained nurses on staff [15]. Furthermore, most nurses have a 4-year Diploma in Nursing, indicating that psychiatric nursing training is well represented in primary health care clinics [15]. Despite this, nurses with a 4-year diploma or degree do not have adequate skills and knowledge to manage patients presenting with mental health disorders in primary health care settings [15,38].…”

“…Furthermore, most nurses have a 4-year Diploma in Nursing, indicating that psychiatric nursing training is well represented in primary health care clinics [15]. Despite this, nurses with a 4-year diploma or degree do not have adequate skills and knowledge to manage patients presenting with mental health disorders in primary health care settings [15,38]. These findings indicate a need for capacitating these nurses to provide mental health care among patients consulting in primary health care, considering that they were trained to provide mental health nursing.…”

“…Some further their studies in advanced postgraduate mental health nursing qualifications. Those that completed their undergraduate 4-year diploma and a degree in nursing [15] and postgraduate nursing are registered with the South African Nursing Council to render care to patients [16]. Therefore, nurses need to integrate follow-up care of rape survivors for assessment and management of PTSD and depression in primary health care settings…”

Mental health literacy among primary healthcare workers in South Africa and Zambia

“…Unfavorable working conditions, lack of resources, and demoralization of nurses have been reported to cultivate undesirable attitudes toward mental illness (Alburquerque‐Sendin et al, 2018 ). However, nurses in PHC should inform users and community members about mental health, identify mental disorders, and refer users to appropriate services (De Kock & Pillay, 2016 ), but unfortunately, most PHC nurses do not possess the knowledge, training, or experience to render care (Dube & Uys, 2016 ; Maconick et al., 2018 ). In addition, stigma and strong negative attitudes among PHC professionals have been found to challenge mental health support in the region (Kapungwe et al., 2011 ; Mosaku & Wallymahdmed, 2017 ).…”