Turning the Tide Together: Mental Health Literacy of the Nurses in Global Health

Ya-Jyun Peng ； Chia-Yi Wu ； Wen-Yu Hu ； Shin-Ling Tsai ； Ming-Been Lee

《第六屆亞洲健康識能國際會議》 預刊文章 Pp. 1-3

https://doi.org/10.6881/AHLA.201810.SN09

摘要

Mental health literacy (MHL) has received relatively less attention in the field of health literacy studies. However, it is complementary to the well-being of the public since there is no health without mental health. Nurses are frontline gatekeepers of patient mental health through their good sources of knowledge and skills for early identification and management of mental problems such as depression. Thus, investigating the depression-related MHL (d-MHL) of the nurses is important to implicate strategies of educational programs and clinical services. The aim of this study was to understand the knowledge and attitudes of d-MHL among the nurses in a university-affiliated hospital in northern Taiwan. A cross-sectional study was conducted during June and August through online survey after ethical approval at the study hospital. In the study period, a total of 245 nurses (female 95.1%) completed a self-administered questionnaire after provision of their agreement online. The results indicated that among a young nurse population mean-aged 33.4±8.1, the detection rates of depressive symptoms (88.2-91.8%) and attribution to depression (60.8-87.3%) in three case vignettes were high. However, the majority of non-psychiatric nurses appeared to reveal their lacking of coping strategies such as communication or interview skills with high-risk patients with depression. The barrier of inefficient nursing care toward depression interferes their engagement with these patients. The results suggested the need for in-job training targeted at practical mental health literacy that facilitate effective depression care by the nurses. Future policy in clinical services and nursing education relies on more focus on d-MHL to enhance depression care quality.

關鍵字

Mental Health Literacy ； Nurse ； Depression