Care Burden for Mental Illness Patients, Attitude toward Mental Illness and Psychiatric Nursing Competency in Non-psychiatric Nurses / 정신간호학회지

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were to identify the level of care burden for patients with mental illness, attitudes toward mental illness and psychiatric nursing competency in non-psychiatric nurses and to identify correlations among these variables. METHODS: Data were collected from 153 non-psychiatric nurses who worked at a hospital located in Seoul, Korea. Care burden for mental illness patients, attitudes toward mental illness, and psychiatric nursing competency were measured using structured questionnaires. The collected data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Scheffé test and Pearson's correlation coefficients with the SPSS/WIN 21.0 program. RESULTS: Non-psychiatric nurses' care burden for mental illness patients showed negative correlations with attitude toward mental illness (r=-.50, p<.001) and intervention competency (r=-.31, p<.001). CONCLUSION: The findings of this study suggest that effective nursing care for patients with mental illness in non-psychiatric departments requires enhancing nurses' competency in psychiatric nursing and developing positive attitudes toward mental illness.