Student Perceptions in Psychiatric Nursing: A Before and After Qualitative Study

Abstract

Introduction: Negative perceptions and stereotypes of patients suffering from mental health disorders can have a significant impact on the quality of care that they receive. By eliminating these ill-conceived rhetorics, undergraduate nursing students can focus on providing safe, empathetic, and competent care.

AIM/Question: The goal of this qualitative study was to determine what perceptions sophomore undergraduate nursing students had towards psychiatric nursing before their psychiatric nursing course rotation, compared to after their course completion, using a 3-question open-ended pre- and post-survey.

Method: An open-ended 3-question pre- and post-survey was used for this study. Forty-five students participated. A thematic analysis was conducted
after all pre- and post-submissions were collected.

Results: The pre-course survey revealed some negative perceptions towards psychiatric patients. The post-survey indicated that negative perceptions following didactic and clinical learning had been mostly eradicated, but they are still present within the clinical atmosphere.

Discussion: The findings of this research indicate that bias does exist and continues to exist within the healthcare field. Eradicating these perceptions will help healthcare professionals empathize with patients and, therefore, provide more effective care.

Limitations: This study involved a small sample group and therefore does not represent the entire nursing student body.

Implications: This study’s findings focused on the perceptions of nursing students before and after didactic and clinical psychiatric course completion, as identified through comparisons between pre- and post-course surveys.