The aim of this study was to examine the undergraduate nursing students’ attitudes toward individuals with mental illness. Furthermore, it was important to study the perception, attitude, of our students regarding mental illness, which will help in improving the care given to the mentally ill in the hospitals or in the community. A total of 110 undergraduate students were selected using the stratified r andom method. Data for the study were collected through the use of a questionnaire. The data were coded and entered into SPSS version 20. The findings of this study indicated that 30% of the nursing students agreed that “the best way to treat the mentally ill is to keep them at the hospital for years”, 59% disagreed with the statement “Whenever a person starts showing signs of mental illness they should be taken to the health facility for treatment”, and (34%) reported that the mentally ill should not be spoken to about their sexual practices. It is noteworthy to report that 61% of the respondents from this study would not be comfortable working with a mentally ill co-worker who is maintaining their treatment regimen. Reducing the stigmatization of mental illness continues to be an important goal for mental health professionals. Every student nurse needs to be grounded in the basic principles of communicating with the mentally ill patients and provide patient-centered care in a culturally sensitive way. Considering the results of the present study, it seems that revision of the teaching strategies and modification of mental health educational programs of nursing schools are necessary.
The World Health Organization reported that about 450 million people worldwide suffer from some form of mental disorder or brain condition, and that one in four persons meet criteria for mental disorder at some point in their life [
Nurses need to be self-aware of their own stigma in order to avoid inadvertently discriminating against their patients through inappropriate distancing, inadequate teaching, or other nursing actions based in fear. Fear is a major cause of discrimination and stigma [
The attitudes and knowledge of the health professionals on mental illness have been argued to be a major determinant of the quality and outcome of care for mentally ill [
Negative perceptions of mental illnesses have multiple ramifications for people with mental illness. It prevents people with mental illness from fully living, studying or working in the community. It is a barrier to proper care and it may even make the public less willing to pay for the care of people with mental illnesses; and contributes to the sense of hopelessness, isolation and low self-esteem for people with mental illness [
Alexander and Link [
Stigma has been described as―“a cluster of negative attitudes and beliefs that motivate the general public to fear, reject, avoid, and discriminate against people with mental illnesses” [
Social avoidance is common among people with mental illness and various studies suggested that the general population may accept people with mental illness socially, but tend to withdraw from more personal relationships such as working or living together [
Attitudes and perceptions towards mental illness are colored by one’s cultural values and beliefs. However, there is a paucity of studies on public perceptions and attitudes towards mental illness in non-Western countries: a recent survey of 61 of such studies, found that only nine were from non-Western countries [
Consistent with Link and Phelan’s [
A cross-sectional survey research design was used which allowed for the utilizing of quantitative data collection and data analysis. A total of 110 undergraduate students were selected using the stratified random method. Data for the study were collected through the use of a questionnaire. The data were coded and entered into SPSS version 20.
To be able to select a representative sample for the study, a sampling frame was obtained from the first, second and third year students. Gerrish and Lacey added that this “increases the precision of the estimates of error compared with simple random sampling and gives more confidence in the results” [
Inclusion and exclusion criteria. Only the undergraduate full-time students in the bachelors of science nursing program who have at least completed the first year, second year and commenced the first semester of their third year will be included in the study. Students in year 4, critical care, midwifery and the nurse anesthetist program was excluded from the sampling frame.
Ethical approval was obtained from the Research Ethics Committees of the University of Technology, Jamaica.
To describe the participants, 5 demographic items were included in the questionnaire.
Gender. Of the 110 participants in the study 5 (4.5%) were males, while 105 (95.5%) were females.
Eighty or (72.5%) of the respondents were between the ages of 18 and 25 years, 25 (22.7%) 26 - 35 years; 5 (4.5%) 36 - 45 years.
Gender by marital status. 90 (81.8%) of the respondents were single at the time of this study. This is followed by 10 (9.0%) who indicated that they were in a common-law relationships, and 10 (9.0%) were married.
Gender by student status. Most of the respondents 60 (54.5%) were in the third year, 30 (27.2%) second year and 20 (18.2%) of their programme when the study was conducted.
Research Question. What are the views of undergraduate students towards individuals identified as having a mental illness? (