Primary health care nurses: attitudes towards the person with mental disorder

Rev Gaucha Enferm. 2021 Mar 12:42:e20200088. doi: 10.1590/1983-1447.2021.20200088. eCollection 2021.
[Article in English, Portuguese]

Abstract

Objective: To identify the attitudes of nurses working in Primary Health Care towards the person with mental disorder and the variables related to health care provided.

Methodology: Descriptive, correlational study with 250 nurses from 69 Basic Health Units in the city of São Paulo. Data collection took place between April and August 2019 using the "Opinions about Mental Illness" scale. The data were analyzed using the KrusKal-Wallis test, with a 95% confidence level and statistical significance of p <0.05.

Results: The global mean of the scale was 197, which shows negative attitudes especially in the dimensions of Authoritarianism (44.6), Social Restriction (42.0), and positive in the dimension of Benevolence (51.7).

Conclusion: Nurses tend to have a stigmatizing attitudinal profile. It is necessary formative and permanent intervention so that it is possible to reduce stigma and improve community-based care recommended in the guidelines of the Psychosocial Care Network.

MeSH terms

  • Attitude of Health Personnel
  • Brazil
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Humans
  • Mental Disorders* / therapy
  • Nurses*
  • Primary Health Care
  • Social Stigma