Improving Acute Care Nurses' Attitudes Towards Patients with Mental Illness

abstract: Purpose: The purpose of this evidence-based practice project is to implement an educational program on mental illness for acute care nurses and measure the impact on their attitudes towards caring for mentally ill patients in an acute care setting. Background and Significance: Patients experiencing mental illness are more likely to have multiple risk factors for chronic illness and die at a younger age than the general population. Patients with mental illness face negative attitudes and stigma surrounding their disease process. A literature review indicated that nurses in acute care settings often lack knowledge and perceived competence when caring for patients with co-morbid mental and physical illness, and express a negative attitude towards patients experiencing mental illness. Methods: The Attitudes Towards Acute Mental Health (33) questionnaire was used to measure the attitudes of 36 new graduate registered nurses working in acute care before and after they participated in a two-hour educational program. Data was analyzed using a paired t-test. Outcomes: A paired-samples t test was calculated to compare the mean pre-test score to the mean post-test score of the ATAMH (33). The mean on the pre-test was 165.95 (sd = 10.88), and the mean on the post-test was 153.92 (sd = 9.14). A significant decrease from pre-test to post-test ATAMH (33) scores was found (t(36) = 6.03, p <.001). Conclusion: Acute care nurses’ negative attitudes towards patients with mental illness were reduced after nurses attended a two-hour educational program on mental illness