ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: There is limited data regarding the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of nursestowards psychiatric disorders in the Philippines. Hence, this study aimed to assess the KAP of nursingstaff in a tertiary hospital on depressive disorders and determine differences in their KAP in relation tosociodemographic variables.METHODS: The study, which involved 116 Filipino nurses, was divided into two phases. Phase 1 was thecreation and validation of a KAP questionnaire, and Phase 2 was a descriptive cross-sectional study todetermine the KAP of the nurses using the validated questionnaire. Frequencies and differences in KAPscores in relation to sociodemographic variables were analyzed using independent t-test, ANOVA andchi-square via SPSS v.24. Ethics approval was secured for both phases of the study.RESULTS: The questionnaire was validated after two rounds of expert validation. Phase 2 results revealedthat the mean knowledge of nurses was lower than expected. They had overall good attitudes, with nurseswithout previous mental health work experience having higher attitude scores towards functioning andprognosis. However, specific negative attitudes were noted. Overall, good practices were also noted, with42.2% of the sample having had encountered a depressed patient at work and male nurses having higherpractice scores compared to females.CONCLUSION: The nurses had overall good attitude and practices, but still had inadequate knowledge andsome negative attitudes towards depressive disorders. This signifies the need for continuing mental healtheducation among nursing staff in the Philippines.