A Survey on Novice Nurses Training in Psychiatric Facilities

～Relationship between Facility Characteristics and Training Contents～

Abstract

To clarify the relationship between the characteristics of facilities with psychiatric wards (psychiatric facilities) and the contents of their novice nurse training programs, we conducted a survey, involving persons in charge of education at 1,619 psychiatric facilities nationwide. We examined the characteristics of their facilities and the contents of their novice nurse training programs using an anonymous, self-administered web questionnaire, and analyzed the collected data by the chi-square test. A total of 246 persons responded, 214 of whom were included for analysis (response rate: 13.2%). The chi-square test showed that the novice nurse training programs of these psychiatric facilities addressed issues specific to psychiatry, such as group support, the pathology and assessment of mental disorders, psychotropic medications, support for patients to regain independence, support for their families, and isolation, suicide prevention, and other medical safety measures (p < 0.05). The results suggested the necessity for institutions providing basic nursing education to foster students’ nursing competence, adopting various learning approaches.