Nursing student attitudes to people labelled with 'mental illness' and consumer participation: A survey-based analysis of findings and psychometric properties.

BACKGROUND: Understanding student attitudes towards people diagnosed with mental illness is central to realising evidence-based nursing education and policy at an international level. Redressing stigmatised views can assist in preparing nursing students to work in mental health settings and support the active involvement of consumers in all aspects of mental health service delivery (known as: consumer participation) at individual and systemic levels. Accurate research on nursing student attitudes is dependent on the availability of valid and reliable measures. OBJECTIVES: Using data from and international study, this research sought to: (1) evaluate two measures of nurse student attitudes, and (2) explore whether attitudes to people labelled with a diagnosis of mental illness and who use mental health services is associated with more positive attitudes to consumer participation in mental health services. DESIGN: Self-report quantitative data gained via the Consumer Participation Questionnaire (CPQ) and Mental Health Nurse Education Survey (MHNES). SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: University nursing students in Australia and Western Europe. DATA: Pooled CPQ and MHNES data from Australia, Ireland, Finland, Norway and the Netherlands. METHODS: The MHNES and CPQ were evaluated via exploratory factor analysis and Rasch modelling. Hierarchical regression was applied to see whether attitudes to mental illness and mental health practice relate to attitudes to consumer participation after addressing demographic differences. RESULTS: Refined MHNES scales demonstrated overall fit on Rasch models. Reliabilities for MHNES ranged from 0.82 to 0.73. Perceived value of mental health nursing to consumers and lower negative stereotypes were associated with positive attitudes to consumer participation independent of age, gender and country [F (9, 381) = 15.78, p < .001]. Students who considered mental health nursing made a valuable contribution represented the strongest association with a positive attitude towards consumer participation. CONCLUSIONS: Differences in openness to consumer participation are partly attributable to views about people diagnosed with mental illness and the perception that mental health practice makes a positive difference to these people within health service contexts.

Changing attitudes: The impact of Expert by Experience involvement in Mental Health Nursing Education: An international survey study.

Reform to nursing education is essential to ensure future generations of nurses are strongly positioned to value, know, and deliver strength-based, recovery-oriented mental health practice. A promising pathway to effectively drive reform is the coproduction of curricula by nursing academics and people with lived experience of recovery from mental distress referred to as Experts by Experience. The Co-production in Mental Health Nursing Education (COMMUNE) project is an international collaboration for development and implementation of consumer coproduced curricula. This study evaluated the inclusion of Expert by Experience-led mental health nursing education on nursing students' attitudes to people labelled with mental illness, mental health nursing, and consumer participation. A repeated self-report measures design was implemented in Australia, Ireland, and Finland to ascertain level of generalizability of consumer involvement within undergraduate nursing programmes. Data were collected from nursing students (n = 194) immediately before and after the education module, using three self-report instruments on attitudes (Mental Health Nurse Education Survey, Consumer Participation Questionnaire, and Opening Minds Scale). Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Eighty-nine per cent of the 27 points of change reflected more favourable and accepting attitudinal change. Of these, 41% were significant at Bonferroni adjusted alpha of 0.0025. There was a statistically significant increase in preparedness for practice in the mental health field in each of the three countries. The most pronounced change is related to the social and systemic inclusion of people with a diagnostic label and recovery-oriented care more broadly.

Nursing Students' Attitudes Towards People Diagnosed with Mental Illness and Mental Health Nursing: An International Project from Europe and Australia.

The stigma associated with a diagnosis of mental illness is well known yet has not reduced significantly in recent years. Health professionals, including nurses, have been found to share similar negative attitudes towards people with labelled with mental illness as the general public. The low uptake of mental health nursing as a career option reflects these stigmatised views and is generally regarded as one of the least popular areas of in which to establish a nursing career. The aim of the current project was to examine nursing students' attitudes towards the concept of mental illness and mental health nursing across four European countries (Ireland, Finland, Norway and the Netherlands), and Australia, using the Opening Minds Scale and the Mental Health Nurse Education survey. The surveys were distributed to students prior to the commencement of the mental health theory component. Attitudes towards mental health nursing were generally favourable. Differences in opinion were evident in attitudes towards mental illness as a construct; with students from Australia and Ireland tending to have more positive attitudes than students from Finland, Norway and the Netherlands. The future quality of mental health services is dependent on attracting sufficient nurses with the desire, knowledge and attitudes to work in mental health settings. Understanding attitudes towards mental illness and mental health nursing is essential to achieving this aim.