Breaking down the stigma of mental health nursing: A qualitative study reflecting opinions from western australian nurses

Introduction A lack of understanding surrounding the role of mental health nursing is associated with recruitment and retention challenges. Additional complexities include stigma related to the role, an ageing workforce and dearth of graduates keen to pursue this career. Scientific Rational Previous research has focused on why nurses leave the profession which has not provided necessary solutions. There is a need to instead explore why nurses originally chose a career in mental health. Aim of study This qualitative study focused on opinions and experiences of existing mental health nurses to determine what could be performed to entice nurses to choose mental health. Methods A cross-sectional design involving a brief interview was conducted with 192 Western Australian nurses from one public mental health service. Results Thematic analysis revealed an overarching theme breaking down stigma and additional themes of: visibility of mental health nursing and growing mental health nursing. Subthemes under visibility included self-promotion plus industry and university promotion, whereas subthemes related to growing focused upon improving the student experience. Finally, recognizing the mental health specialty was identified for an attractive career pathway. Discussion This study adds to international evidence and showcases unique insights from mental health nurses into why they chose a career in mental health whilst previously replicated research focused on why nurses chose to leave. Implications for practice Findings suggest that before we can entice nurses to choose mental health, there is urgency to reduce stigma related to the role. Breaking down stigma will allow the role to become more visible and be represented in a more positive authentic manner. New findings in this paper will drive improvements of future nurse education, policy planning and recruitment design for the next generation of mental health nurses.