Improving Nursing Students Willingness to Work with Mentally Disabled Patients through College - Community Interaction Initiative

This study examine the effect of college - community interaction initiative on the willingness of the nursing students to work with mentally disabled patients in mental health care institutions. The PRECEDE-PROCEED Model was utilized to develop, implement and evaluate the initiative intervention. A convenience sample of 60 nursing students who pass the mental health nursing course and chose not to re practice in the mental health care institutions attended focus group discussion to identify the predisposing, reinforcing, enabling factors and their suggestions to improve the quality of mental health care institution as a practice area for nursing students. One week after participated in the college - community interaction initiative the potential participants were asked to re fill the Willingness to practice in Mental Health Care Questionnaire as a post intervention assessment. Significant increase in the number of the nursing student who chose to re practice in the mental health care institution as a first or second choice after previous refusal accepted as an indicator of improving the nursing students willingness to work with mentally disabled patients in mental health care institutions as a result of their participation in the college - community interaction initiative program. Results support nurse educator's use of college-community interaction initiatives as a means to improve the nursing students' willingness to work with mentally disabled patient in mental health care institutions.