Abstract
Mental disorders are an increasing area of concern in healthcare, and nurses in acute care hospitals must be prepared and equipped to care for patients with mental diseases, especially when there is a clear link between mental illnesses and physical illnesses. Mental health mentorship and support structures on the ward are currently insufficient, and the impact on student nurses can potentially create an environment that affects the quality of health care provided and contributes to lower morale and confidence of the student nurse, subsequently affecting positive patient outcomes and negating de-stigmatisation of mental illness.
The purpose of the study was to explore and describe the experiences of 2nd year bridging course students’ experience of caring for mentally ill patients and make recommendations for nursing education to strengthen the theoretical and practical aspects of mental health care for student nurses.
The research design for this study was a qualitative design that was exploratory, descriptive and contextual. The researcher used a phenomenological approach, which recognised each individual’s uniqueness and explored his or her own experiences to achieve an understanding of that individual’s lived experience.
The study’s sample comprised second-year bridging course students, leading to registration as general nurses by Regulation 683 of the South African Nursing Council (SANC). The target population was 2nd year student nurses’ that were allocated to medical surgical units that admit mentally ill patients. Purposive sampling method was used to select those participants that were most suitable for achieving the objectives of the study. The participants were selected from a private hospital group within the East and West rand of Gauteng. Data collection was done through three focus group discussions consisting of five participants per group. The collected data was recorded and transcription was done verbatim. The data was analysed using Giorgi’s analysis method.
The core theme and its sub-theme were determined using a thematic analysis approach. The emerging data revealed that care of the mentally ill patient was the focus, and the student’s experiences and challenges were a result of their exposure to mental health nursing. The findings supported the conclusion that student nurses lacked the emotional and practical skills needed to care for mentally ill patients in an acute unit. A lack of academic understanding, and stigmatizing views toward mentally ill people impeded the students’ capacity to nurse the patient. The students’ emotional well-being was impacted by a lack of clinical support, mentorship, and consistency in the learning environment. Inadequate role models and coercive behaviour toward students also led to poor mental health.
In the study, trustworthiness principles were observed by retaining credibility, transferability, dependability, and authenticity. Furthermore, during the study, the researcher respected the ethical concepts of autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence, and justice.
Recommendations for nursing administration, education, and research were purposely developed to increase the support of student nurses in the clinical learning environment.
Keywords: Student nurses, perceptions, Clinical learning environment, Mentally ill patients.