Abstract

Research Article

Assessment of Perceptions of Nursing Undergraduates towards Mental Health Practices

Alya Algamdii*

Published: 13 June, 2025 | Volume 9 - Issue 1 | Pages: 007-011

Background: Undergraduate nursing students, like the general population, are not devoid of negative attitudes relating to mental health. As future manpower, undergraduate nursing students need to be trained in a manner that inspires confidence in the way they perceive and handle mentally ill persons.
Aim: This study aimed to investigate undergraduate students' perceptions and attitudes toward mental health practices.
Methods: The study adopted a cross-sectional descriptive design approach. A self-reported questionnaire was prepared and sent to 140 undergraduate nursing students studying at King Saud University. A total of 128 students took part in the study by filling out self-reported questionnaires.
Results: Undergraduate nursing students have a positive perception and attitude (social relationships) towards people living with mentally ill persons in three of the five Attitudes towards Mental Illness (AMI) categories investigated. AMI1 (18.93), AMI2 (9.55), AMI3 (16.88), AMI4 (8.34), AMI5 (9.82), Average AMI (62.98).
Conclusion: Undergraduate nursing students hold unjustified views regarding people with mental illness, which leads to negative attitudes held throughout their studies and professional practice. As future manpower, it is important that psychiatric training is reformed to offer undergraduate nursing students comprehensive skills necessary for future practice.

Read Full Article HTML DOI: 10.29328/journal.cjncp.1001059 Cite this Article Read Full Article PDF

Keywords:

Mental illness; Attitudes; Perception; Undergraduate nursing students

References

  1. GBD 2019 Mental Disorders Collaborators. Global, regional, and national burden of 12 mental disorders in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Lancet Psychiatry. 2022;9(2):137-150. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/s2215-0366(21)00395-3
  2. World Health Organization [Internet]. Mental Disorders. [cited 2022 Dec 27]. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-disorders
  3. Normal R, Azlini C. The perception of university students on mental illness patients. Int J Res Innov Soc Sci. 2018;2(12):323-326. Available from: https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/Digital-Library/volume-2-issue-12/323-326.pdf
  4. Shammari M, Waggas SD, Hasan AA. Assessment of nursing students’ attitudes and stigma towards mental illness: a cross-sectional study. J Nurs Educ Pract. 2020;10(9):1-11. Available from: https://doi.org/10.5430/jnep.v10n9p1
  5. Shattell MM, Starr SS, Thomas SP. ‘Take my hand, help me out’: Mental health service recipients' experience of the therapeutic relationship. Int J Ment Health Nurs. 2007;16(4):274-284. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1447-0349.2007.00477.x
  6. Poreddi V, Thimmaiah R, Pashupu DR, Ramachandra, Badamath S. Undergraduate nursing students' attitudes towards mental illness: Implications for specific academic education. Indian J Psychol Med. 2014;36(4):368-372. Available from: https://doi.org/10.4103/0253-7176.140701
  7. Fernando SM, Deane FP, McLeod HJ. Sri Lankan doctors’ and medical undergraduates’ attitudes towards mental illness. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2010;45(7):733-739. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-009-0113-6
  8. Thongpriwan V, Leuck SE, Powell RL, Young S, Schuler SG, Hughes RG. Undergraduate nursing students’ attitudes toward mental health nursing. Nurse Educ Today. 2015;35(8):948-953. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2015.03.011
  9. Hunter L, Weber T, Shattell M, Harris BA. Nursing students’ attitudes about psychiatric mental health nursing. Issues Ment Health Nurs. 2015;36(1):29-34. Available from: https://doi.org/10.3109/01612840.2014.935901
  10. Vila-Badia R, Martínez-Zambrano F, Arenas O, Casas-Anguera E, García-Morales E, Villellas R, et al. Effectiveness of an intervention for reducing social stigma towards mental illness in adolescents. World J Psychiatry. 2016;6(2):239-247. Available from: https://doi.org/10.5498/wjp.v6.i2.239
  11. Schafer T, Wood S, Williams R. A survey into student nurses’ attitudes towards mental illness for nurse training. Nurse Educ Today. 2011;31(4):328-332. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2010.06.010
  12. Happell B, Gough K. Undergraduate nursing students’ attitudes toward mental health nursing: Determining the influencing factors. Contemp Nurse. 2007;25(1-2):72-81. Available from: https://doi.org/10.5172/conu.2007.25.1-2.72
  13. Ganzer CA, Zauderer C. Structured learning and self-reflection: Strategies to decrease anxiety in the psychiatric mental health clinical nursing experience. Nurs Educ Perspect. 2013;34(4):244-247. Available from: https://doi.org/10.5480/1536-5026-34.4.244
  14. Happell B, Gaskin CJ. The attitudes of undergraduate nursing students towards mental health nursing: A systematic review. J Clin Nurs. 2013;22(1-2):148-158. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.12022
  15. Yamauchi T, Semba T, Sudo A, Takahashi N, Nakamura H, Yoshimura K, et al. Effects of psychiatric training on nursing students’ attitudes towards people with mental illness in Japan. Int J Soc Psychiatry. 2010;57(6):574-579. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1177/0020764010374419
  16. Hasan AA. Nursing students’ attitudes and stigma toward mental health nursing: A systematic review. Ann Med Health Sci Res. 2020;10:804-815. Available from: https://www.amhsr.org/articles/nursing-students-attitudes-and-stigma-toward-mentalhealth-nursing-a-systematic-review.pdf
  17. Alghadeer SM, Alhossan AM, Al-Arifi MN, Alrabiah ZS, Ali SW, Babelghaith SD, et al. Prevalence of mental disorders among patients attending primary health care centers in the capital of Saudi Arabia. Neurosciences (Riyadh). 2018;23(3):238-243. Available from: https://doi.org/10.17712/nsj.2018.3.20180058
  18. Bekhet AK, Murrock CJ, Mu Q, Singh-Gill H. Nursing students’ perception of the stigma of mental illness. SM J Nurs. 2017;3(2):1013. Available from: https://epublications.marquette.edu/nursing_fac/483?utm_source=epublications.marquette.edu%2Fnursing_fac%2F483&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages
  19. Amini H, Shoar S, Tabatabaee M, Arabzadeh S. The effect of clinical exposure to patients on medical students’ attitude towards mental illness. Iran J Psychiatry Behav Sci. 2016;10(3):e1887. Available from: https://doi.org/10.17795/ijpbs-1887
  20. Sari SP, Yuliastuti E. Investigation of attitudes toward mental illness among nursing students in Indonesia. Int J Nurs Sci. 2018;5(4):414-418. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnss.2018.09.005
  21. Mino Y, Yasuda N, Tsuda T, Shimodera S. Effects of a one‐hour educational program on medical students' attitudes to mental illness. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2001;55(5):501-507. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-1819.2001.00896.x
  22. Baxter H, Singh SP, Standen P, Duggan C. The attitudes of ‘tomorrow’s doctors’ towards mental illness and psychiatry: changes during the final undergraduate year. Med Educ. 2001;35(4):381-383. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2923.2001.00902.x
  23. Evans-Lacko S, London J, Japhet S, Rüsch N, Flach C, Corker E, et al. Mass social contact interventions and their effect on mental health related stigma and intended discrimination. BMC Public Health. 2012;12:489. Available from: https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-12-489
  24. Amini H, Majdzadeh R, Eftekhar-Ardebili H, Shabani A, Davari-Ashtiani R. How mental illness is perceived by Iranian medical students: A preliminary study. Clin Pract Epidemiol Ment Health. 2013;9:62-68. Available from: https://doi.org/10.2174/1745017901309010062
  25. Adewuya AO, Oguntade AA. Doctors’ attitude towards people with mental illness in Western Nigeria. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2007;42(11):931-936. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-007-0246-4
  26. Lingeswaran A. Psychiatric curriculum and its impact on the attitude of Indian undergraduate medical students and interns. Indian J Psychol Med. 2010;32(2):119-127. Available from: https://doi.org/10.4103/0253-7176.78509

Figures:

Similar Articles

Recently Viewed

Read More

Most Viewed

Read More

Help ?