The Stigma toward the Mental Illness and Mentally ill Patients among Nursing Students between before and after Learning Psychiatric-mental Health Nursing
Authors: Yang Soo , Yu Sook Ja 
Published: November 2024

The purpose of this study was to investigate the contents, extent and reasons of stigma, toward the mental illnesses and mentally-ill patients between nursing students who were before and after learning psychiatric mental health nursing. Moreover, the awareness of the impact of stigma on the patient and family members and methods for decreasing the stigma were examined so as to provide the basis for changing treatment for mental illnesses and mentally ill patients.The subjects included 350 nursing students before learning psychiatric mental health nursing and 142 nursing students after learning it. Data were collected from 10 nursing college and junior college located all over the country from September, 2000 to January. 2000.A questionnaires developed by CAMK1981) and Wahl and Harman(1989), the primary tool in this study, was revised and supplemented referencing related literatures and then used.The SAS program was used to analyze the collected data: the Chi-square and Fisher's exact test were used to analyze the differences in general characteristics； ANOVA and Scheffe's test were used to analyze the differences among three surveyed groups: and ANOVA and t-test were used to analyze the differences in stigma according to demographic characteristics.The results of the study were as follows -1. The students who did not learn the psychiatric mental health nursing placed more stigma on mental illnesses and mentally-ill patients than the students who learned the psychiatric mental health nursing(p = .0001).The students after learning the psychiatric mental health nursing placed the most stigma on mental illnesses while the students before leaning the psychiatric mental health nursing placed the most stigma on the treatment of mental illnesses. The stigma on mental illnesses was not different significantly between two groups. 2. The students after learning the psychiatric mental health nursing were more aware of the impact of stigma on the mentally-ill patient and on the family than the students before learning it, showing a difference between groups (p = .0001, p = .0000). All the students were aware of the most impact of stigma on getting job of the patients and self-esteem of the family.3. All the students placed the highest blame for the stigma on environment of the psychiatric facilities, showing a difference in the awareness of the reasons for stigma between the two groups (p = . 0000).4. The students before learning psychiatric mental health nursing believed that the best way to eliminate stigma was through providing the realistic and scientific information about mental illness, while the students after learning psychiatric mental health nursing believed the best way was through the display of mutual support in a family, showing a significant difference between the two groups in their opinions as to the method of eliminating stigma (p = .OOO5).The above results have implications for developing further psychiatric mental health nursing curriculum. Nursing educators need to extend the contents of curriculum and practice education including the community mental health nursing, and to emphasize the change of paradigm from cure model to care model in the mental health. Also, a more systematic and detailed strategy, and continuous research needs to be established to eliminate the prevalent stigma placed by the students.