Tertiary Health Care Nurses’ Attitude towards People with Mental Illness in Enugu, South-East Nigeria

ABSTRACT: Nurses working in the general hospital setting do not feel adequately prepared by their training to cope with nursing patients with common comorbid mental health problems. Such patients may elicit negative emotions such as fear, leading to patient segregation. The negative attitudes of healthcare professionals, especially nurses, worsen people’s mental health problems. Empathy is a vital resource for supporting the patient’s recovery. The study explored nurses’ attitudes towards people with severe mental disorders in tertiary
hospitals. The cross-sectional survey was designed within the Community Attitudes towards Mental Illness (CAMI) model. Information was collected from 152 nurses working in two university teaching hospitals in Enugu, Southeast Nigeria. The median age of the participants was 33.0, and the age range was 20-58 years; 30 – 39 years were the majority (39.5%). The females constituted 86.2% of the respondents. The majority of the participants (46.1%) occupied the position of Nursing Officers II. All but one, 151(99.3%), had at least three weeks of psychiatry experience during basic nursing training. Multiple linear regression showed that the duration of post-qualification, work experience and training in psychiatry were significantly associated with predicting positive community mental health ideology. In contrast, gender was significantly associated with predicting social restrictiveness. The study may have highlighted a greater and urgent need to facilitate inservice training for other less experienced staff. Greater psychiatric experience might help equip the nurses
better and give them confidence in dealing with patients with mental illness.
KEYWORD: Tertiary Health Care, Nurses, Attitude, People With Mental Illness, Enugu Southeast Nigeria