Experiencing stigma as a nurse with mental illness

WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: Stigma involves connecting individuals with a particular label to negative characteristics; this is based not on the stigmatized condition itself, but cultural reactions to it. Stigma exists towards nurses with mental illness. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: This paper offers a first-person account of experiencing stigma as a nurse with a mental illness. This paper incorporates the existing literature to offer a broader cultural perspective on the experiences of a nurse with a mental illness. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: Nurses are likely to encounter a nurse with a mental illness at some point in their practice. Nurses' reactions towards colleagues with mental illness can have significant implications for those colleague(s)' wellbeing. Nurses with mental illness will have to navigate their person and professional journey while giving consideration to the attitudes of their nursing peers and leaders.

Limited research has been done on the stigma faced by nurses with mental illness from their nursing peers. Mental illness is not generally considered acceptable within the context of nursing culture, so when nurses do experience mental illness, their experiences in a professional context may be influenced by stereotypes, particularly those relating to dangerousness. Using autoethnography as a research method, the author examines her own subjective experiences of stigma as a nurse with a mental illness, and draws upon existing literature on stigma, deviance and the phenomenon of mental illness in nurses to analyse broader cultural implications for nursing. Assessment of suitability to return to work arises throughout the narratives, and consideration is given to the way that risk assessment by nursing leaders is impacted by negative stereotypes that surround mental illness.