The determining of a faculty of nursing students' beliefs toward mental disorders

Abstract

SUMMARY Objectives: This study was intended to determine nursing students' beliefs about mental health disorders and the factors that affect these beliefs. Methods: This is a descriptive study. This study was carried out with 240 students who studied at Ege University, Izmir, Turkey, in the 2014–2015 academic year, and had taken the mental health nursing course. The study data were collected using the Descriptive Information Form and the Beliefs Toward Mental Illness Scale (BMIS). The data were analyzed using the students' t test results and the One Way ANOVA. Results: The average age of students was 22.47±1.37 years; of the participants, 86.2% were women; 69.2% were juniors and 30.8% were seniors. Of the students, 67.9% did not complete the mental health nursing course practice, 82.1% had no family member suffering from mental health disorders, and 62.5% did not know anyone suffering from mental health disorders. Also, 92.1% had never had any mental health disorder diagnosis themselves, and 94.2% had not worked with any civil society organization relating to mental health disorders. The students' mean score on the BMIS subscales was 27.05±7.69 for " Poor social and interpersonal skills and incurability " , 18.54±5.17 for " Dangerousness " , 2.03±2.59 for " Shame " , and 50.55±12.64 for the total scale. The students' distribution of BMI total score was found to be statistically significant only if they had any family member or knew someone close to them who was mentally ill (p<0.05). There was no significant difference in age, sex, grade, completing any mental health nursing practice, having a diagnosis of a mental health disorder or working with a civil society organization relating to mental health. Conclusion: Because students' beliefs about mental disorders have a direct impact as future health professionals on clients' treatment and care, and an indirect impact on the community burden of mental health disorders, it is important to identify these beliefs and to strengthen stu-dents' self-awareness in this field.