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. 2020 Apr 14;7(4):1118-1128.
doi: 10.1002/nop2.494. eCollection 2020 Jul.

Undergraduate nursing and midwifery student's attitudes to mental illness

Angela Hawthorne  1   2 , Ross Fagan  1   3 , Elspeth Leaver  1   4 , Jessica Baxter  1   5 , Pamela Logan  1 , Austyn Snowden  1
Affiliations

Undergraduate nursing and midwifery student's attitudes to mental illness

Angela Hawthorne et al. Nurs Open. .

Abstract

Aim: To explore levels of stigma in students of all fields of nursing and midwifery at different years and examine the impact of exposure to people with mental illness.

Design: A cross-sectional survey was used.

Methods: The Community Attitudes to Mental Illness questionnaire was administered to all branches of student nurses (adult health, mental health, child health and learning disability) and midwives in all three years in one Higher Education Institution (HEI) in Scotland.

Results: Mental health nursing students scored significantly better on all stigma subscales. Stigma worsened with a little professional exposure to people with mental illness but then improved with increasing exposure. Both personal exposure and professional exposure to people with mental illness change perceptions. The professional results follow a J-curve. Current plans for cross-field experience involving short or virtual placements during student nurse training are likely to worsen stigma rather than improve it.

Keywords: attitudes; exposure; mental illness; nurses; stigma; student.

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Conflict of interest statement

The four principle researchers of this study were also student mental health nurses in their second year on the nursing course at the same HEI at time of data collection. The two other researchers were also faculty at the same HEI. However, the risks of biases, particularly in the second‐year branch of mental health nurse students were eliminated in the same way that other biases were; participants were fully informed of the study before participation, questionnaires were anonymized, and participants could opt out at any time. Permission to carry out the study was given by the Edinburgh Napier University School of Health and Social Care Ethics Committee. All participants were provided with information about the study prior to taking part, were told that their data would be analysed anonymously, signed consent forms and had the option to opt out at any time.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Means plots for Community Attitudes towards Mental Illness subscales by branch of nursing
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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