Perception of nursing students on recovery of persons with mental illness

Abstract

The concept of recovery assumes various meanings, depending on the context in which it is raised. The present study aimed at exploring the perceptions of the nursing students about recovery of persons with mental illness (PwMI). Based on convenience sampling and their willingness, 460 undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate nursing students from 85 colleges of nursing in India who came for Psychiatric Nursing clinical experience at the study institute, which is a tertiary care psychiatric institute in South India between May 2017 and December 2018, took part in the study. A semi-structured, self-administered questionnaire was distributed to the students. The data were analysed using statistical software (SPSS 22 version) and P < 0.05 was considered as the level of significance. Majority (86.5%) of the students were females and UGs (77.6%). Among them, 4% had a family history of mental illness. More than half (54.1%) of the students had experience of taking care of PwMI. Results revealed that more than three-fourth (76.1%) of the students had used the term 'recovery' in the psychiatric setting. Majority of them agreed that early detection of mental illness helps in recovery (90.4%), and patient's self-confidence can be increased by keeping him/her busy and engaging in meaningful activities (91.1%). However, nearly 70% agreed that isolating patients with mental illness from family/friends/support groups can be a barrier to recovery. The study provides the preliminary findings of the perception of nursing students on recovery from mental illness. The study has implications on improving the perception on the recovery of PwMI and the need for educating the public on mental illness.