The profile of psychiatric nurses in Turkey: Academic field

Abstract

Objectives: There is no current data on the number and qualifications of the academic nursing work force in the mental health and psychiatric field in Turkey. The purpose of this research, therefore, is to construct a profile of academics who are working in the field of mental health and psychiatric nursing in Turkey. Methods: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted between January–May 2018 via a digital questionnaire form. Of the 227 teaching staff with internet access who were invited to participate in the study, 177 filled out the questionnaires. The questionnaire consists of 42 questions about personal and professional experience. Descriptive statistics were used in the analysis of the data. Results: Among the participants, 5.6% were professors; 16.9% were associate professors; 31.3% were doctoral faculty members, 14.6% were faculty members and 31.6% were research assistants. The percentage of those with master of science degrees in Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing was 73.4%, while those with a doctorate in this field was 55.4%. It was further found that 89.8% of the participants worked full time, 34.5% had 1–5 years of academic experience, 45.2% taught outside the field of mental health, 20.9% had clinical experience in the field of mental health and 12.4% had never worked in a clinical area before. Finally, 34.5% stated that they had visited or studied in an institution abroad and 63.8% had participated in congresses abroad, with the mean number of international congresses attended being 3.92 (Max:43). Conclusion: The fact that about one-third of the academics were at the beginning of their academic experience and that half had no doctorate degree can be seen as characteristics posing possible risks to reaching goals. In contrast, the high number of those with clinical experience in the field of mental health can be viewed as a strong quality of the academic profile.