Relationship of Nurse's Perception from Mental Illness Stigma and Quality of Nursing Care in Psychiatric Wards of Teaching Hospitals in Northwest of Iran.

Abstract

Abstract: Introduction: Different studies show people with mental illness are vulnerable to receive medical care with poor quality and there are evidence of stigma among medicine sciences students and practitioners. Regarding to cognitive, affective and behavioral components of stigma, there is a risk that existence of stereotypes among nurses cause in prejudice and discrimination towards people with mental illnesses and it can affect quality of nursing care. The purpose of this research was to determine the relationship between the nurses' perception from mental illness stigma and quality of nursing care in psychiatric wards. Materials & Methods: In this correlational descriptive study, we used census sampling. 80 nurses working at psychiatric wards of teaching hospital in northwest of Iran participated in this study. Data gathering instrument was a researcher –made questionnaire which had three sections (demographic questions, the questionnaire of nurse perception from mental illness stigma and Quality Patient Care Scale (QUALPACS)) and was used after determining the validity and reliability. The collected data were analyzed by using descriptive and inferential methods using SPSS13. Results: Majority of nurses (72.5) have moderate stigma toward mental illness. About half of them (48.8%) have tendency for social discrimination of patients. Most of them (62.5%) have positive affective reactions and 27.5% have high stereotypes towards people with mental illness. Findings show that 60.5% of nurses perceived the quality of nursing care as desirable, which 65.8% of them reported quality of care in physical and 61% in communicational aspects as desirable. While 53.2% of nurses reported the quality of care as partly desirable in psychosocial aspect. There was significant relationship between nurses' university and their tendency to continue their job in psychiatric ward with prejudice also between educational level and stereotypes. Conclusion: Although research findings show that there isn't significant relationship between nurse' perception from mental illness stigma and quality of nursing care, regarding to stigma existence among nurses designing and applying educational programs and giving opportunities for nurses to meet recovered patients are suggested. Continues performance evaluation and applying educational programs and giving opportunities for nurses to meet recovered patients are suggested. Continues performance evaluation and applying educational programs is necessary to improve nursing care quality especially in psychosocial aspect in these centers.