A Comparative Study of Attitudes Towards Mental Illness Among Nursing Students

Abstract

Introduction: Nurses play a key role in the treatment and rehabilitation of psychiatric patients. Attitude towards the mentally ill influence the nursing students' choice to take up training and placement in psychiatry as a speciality. Aim: To study the change in the attitudes among the nursing students towards mental illness after a posting in a tertiary care psychiatric hospital. MaterialsandMethods: The study was carried out at Government Hospital for Mental Care, a tertiary care psychiatry institute at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. 75 nursing students attending psychiatry posting at the time of study who had given informed consent constituted the sample. The student nurses were given Attitude Scale for Mental Illness (ASMI) on the first day (day 1) and on the last day (day 15) of their posting, which included didactic lectures, bedside teaching and ward work. Paired t test was used to calculate the difference in the attitudes between day 1 and day 15. Results: The nursing students had high scores on negative and positive attitude factors on day 1. On day 15, there was a significant positive change in one of the 5 negative attitude factors, i,e. stereotypism. Conclusion: Changes in the existing psychiatric training system for nursing students with more focus on shaping a positive attitude towards the mentally ill are required