Psychiatric Nursing and Mental Health Course on Students' Beliefs and Attitudes Towards Mental Illness

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Stigmatization of mental illness impedes the understanding of psychiatric disorders among individuals. One of the objectives of the Psychiatric Nursing and Mental Health Course in the undergraduate nursing program is to identify and reduce the stigma toward mental illness. The research aimed to determine the effectiveness of the Psychiatric Nursing and Mental Health Course on nursing students' beliefs and attitudes regarding mental health conditions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The research involved 71 third-year nursing students from a university in North Cyprus, using a single-group pretest-posttest design. The pre-test was administered on the first day of the psychiatric nursing and mental health course, the mid-test before the clinical practice, and the post-test on the last day of the course. Data were obtained via the spread of student information the Beliefs Towards Mental Illness Scale, and the Attitudes towards Mental Problems Scale. RESULTS: It was found that perceptions regarding mental illness changed based on factors like contact, communication, and assisting individuals with mental illness, which in turn altered attitudes. CONCLUSION: The applied and theoretical components of the Psychiatric Nursing and Mental Health Course positively affected the perspectives of students regarding mental health issues.