Relationship Between Socio-demographic Characteristics and Attitudes of Nursing Students Toward Psychiatry in Kenya

There exists disparity between the level of demand for mental health nursing services and the number of psychiatric nurses available. Few students enroll in the psychiatric nursing specialty in Kenya. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between socio-demographic characteristics of nursing students and their attitudes towards psychiatric nursing. The study was carried out at three universities and five colleges of nursing in Western Kenya among students pursuing bachelor's degree & diploma courses (n=245). Cluster and systematic random sampling techniques were used to select the study participants. A descriptive cross sectional design was used and data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires. Data were analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) for windows version 21. Statistical significance was set at p≤0.05. Two-sided t-test was used to compare the mean of those willing to pursue psychiatric nursing and those not willing. There was a significant relationship between religion and preparation for mental health clinical placement (p=0.03). The Catholics had a higher mean of 2.9 (95% CI = 2.8 – 3.0) unlike the protestants who had a mean of 2.8 (95% CI = 2.8 – 2.9). Female participants were significantly knowledgeable about mental illness compared to males (p = 0.03) with a mean of 2.8 (95% CI = 2.7 – 2.8) versus a mean of 2.7 (95% CI = 2.6 – 2.8) for the males. A significant relationship between anxiety surrounding mental illness and availability of a psychiatric unit within the training institution was noted (p=0.008). Those who had a psychiatric unit within their training institution had a higher mean of 2.5 (95% CI = 2.4 – 2.6) compared to that of those in institutions that did not have psychiatric training institutions within the learning institutions with a mean of 2.3 (95% CI = 2.2 – 2.4). There was a significant relationship between the students’ interests in nursing after completion of secondary school and experience during clinical placement (p = 0.05). Those who had higher interest had a higher mean of 2.8, 95% CI=2.7 – 2.8 compared to their counterparts with a mean of mean 2.4 (95% CI=1.9–2.8). The researchers recommends early exposure of students to psychiatric patients in their training, improvement on mentorship programmes for the students in psychiatry, thorough preparation of students for their clinical placement and provision of more opportunities for further studies in psychiatric nursing. A study to determine the influence of religion on attitudes towards psychiatric nursing is recommended.