Loading...
Motivations of nursing students regarding their educational preparation for mental health nursing in Australia and the United Kingdom: A survey evaluation
Edward, Karen-Leigh Warelow, Philip Hemingway, Stephen Hercelinskyj, Gylo Welch, Anthony McAndrew, Sue Stephenson, John
Edward, Karen-Leigh
Warelow, Philip
Hemingway, Stephen
Hercelinskyj, Gylo
Welch, Anthony
McAndrew, Sue
Stephenson, John
Abstract
Background: There has been much debate by both academics and clinical agencies about the motivations and abilities of nurse graduates to work in mental health nursing. The aim of this study was to recruit student nurses from a dedicated mental health nursing program in the United Kingdom (UK) and a comprehensive nursing program in Australia and illuminate their motivations towards considering mental health nursing as a career choice. Methods: This study comprised of two UK and four Australian Schools of Nursing within Universities. A 12 item survey was developed for the purpose of this study and was checked for face validity by experienced mental health nurses. Convenience sampling was used and 395 responses were received. Results: The comprehensive program represented by the Australian sample, revealed a third of respondents indicated that mental health nursing was definitely not a career option, while only 8 % of the UK specialised program reported mental health nursing was not seven for them. In both groups a higher level of motivation to work in mental health emanated from personal experience and/or work experience/exposure to mental health care. Conclusions: A greater focus on clinical exposure in comprehensive programs could enhance professional experience needed to increase student motivations for mental health nursing.
Keywords
curriculum, mental health nursing, motivation, nursing education, psychiatric nursing
Date
2015
Type
Journal article
Journal
BMC Nursing
Book
Volume
14
Issue
29
Page Range
1-5
Article Number
ACU Department
School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
License
File Access
Open
Notes
© 2015 Edward et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.