Insights from Nursing Students about Factors Affecting and Strategies Supporting their Mental Health

Introduction: Nursing students experience high stress and mental health issues. It is essential to pay adequate attention to students’ mental health so they are trained to deliver quality patient care in complex settings. In order to provide a healthy environment to student nurses, it is essential that nursing students’ voices are heard. This study aims to explore nursing students’ perceptions about factors that influence their mental health and understand strategies that support mental health during nursing education. Methods: The study used an exploratory descriptive qualitative design to achieve the objective. Purposive sampling was used to recruit nursing students from a university representing undergraduate and graduate nursing programs. Data were collected using four focus group discussions. All discussions were audio recorded and transcribed. Coding was generated by the research team to drive key themes and sub themes. Results: The 28 participants identified teachers’ attitude, university environment and family responsibilities as key factors influencing their mental health. They also recommended several strategies for nursing institutions to promote students’ mental health during training. Conclusion: Nursing students are the future of healthcare systems. It is important that their mental health is given priority during nursing training. Promoting mental health would help nursing institutions create environments that foster health and well-being of students. These findings may also be useful for promoting mental health of students in other healthcare disciplines