Impact of theory and clinical placement on undergraduate students' mental health nursing knowledge, skills, and attitudes

Mental health issues are common and contemporary nursing students need to be well prepared to meet the mental health care needs of Australians. This study explored the influence of the mental health component of a Bachelor of Nursing course on second-year undergraduate nursing students’ self-reported knowledge, skills, and attitudes in relation to mental health nursing. The study used a quasiexperimental research design involving questionnaires and individual interviews to determine nursing students’ self-reported knowledge, skills, attitudes. Questionnaires were administered prior to undertaking the mental health theory, repeated prior to undertaking a clinical placement in either a community or inpatient mental health setting, and again after the clinical placement. The findings of the study indicated that a positive clinical placement had the greatest influence on nursing students’ self-reported knowledge, skills, and attitudes and interest in nursing people experiencing mental health problems; however, the quantity of theoretical education also emerged as an influencing variable.