Journal of Community & Public Health Nursing
Open Access

Abstract

Statement of the Problem: Negative attitudes and beliefs of healthcare professionals towards mental illness can negatively impact patient care delivery and patient outcomes. Current literature suggests that many health care professionals have stigmas towards mental health. The broad population affected by mental health disparities includes anyone who suffers from a mental illness, including anxiety, depression, and substance abuse. Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: A current gap in published literature exists in reducing disparities towards those with mental illness. The theoretical foundation of Peplau, Watson, and Barker, provided the foundational base that those with mental illness need to provide a patient-centered approach that is free of stigmas and bias. Quantitative methodology was utilized to observe, interpret and explain mental health stigmas among healthcare workers. A pre-test and post-test design using an established data collection tool discovered relationships between mental health stigmas and patient satisfaction scores. Findings: The results demonstrated that the participating healthcare providers did harbor stigmas towards mental health. Stigmas were determined from empirical literature to be detrimental to the care and outcomes for patients diagnosed with mental illness. Conclusion & Significance: It was concluded that mental health stigmas do exist with the mental health professionals and that these stigmas negatively impact patient care and outcomes. It was also concluded that these stigmas can be reduced through staff interventions. It was shown that mental health stigmas are global in nature and pose a threat to public health, societal health, and the individual health of people.

Biography

Ruth Ann Cangialosi, DNP, MSN, RN-BC has her expertise and passion in psychiatric mental health nursing. Her servant leadership demonstrates her passion for the professional role of psychiatric nursing and her compassion for the mental health community. Her mission and philosophy of psychiatric nursing were built on years of caring for those with mental illness, her experience as an educator, and her clinical leadership in psychiatric hospitals from Arizona to Detroit. She bases her professional career on Barkers Tidal Model of Recovery. Her values of collective accountability advocacy, research, and leadership are welcomed in transformational leadership, higher reliability organizations, improving workflows and procedures while building partnerships with executives, physicians, nurses, unlicensed staff, external customers, stakeholders, and most importantly, the patients.

E-mail: dr.cangialosi@gmail.com