Can education make a difference to undergraduate nursing students' attitudes to psychiatric nursing?

The introduction of undergraduate nursing education throughout Australia has had serious implications for the position of psychiatric nursing in attracting graduates into this field. There is some evidence from the results of limited research that a more positive view of psychiatric nursing can emerge as the result of education. However, such a relationship has not been found to be strong. This paper reports the findings of a quasi-experimental research study, which compared student nurses' attitudes towards psychiatric nursing as a career option both before and after completing the psychiatric nursing component of the course. The post-test results demonstrate a strong and statistically significant increase in the popularity of psychiatric nursing. Analysis of the open-ended responses suggests that exposure to the theory and practice of psychiatric nursing has dispelled many myths regarding this area of practice. The possible impact of problem-based learning on these results is discussed.