A comparative study of educational attitudes between first, second and third level nurses working in psychiatric practice in Malta.

Abstract

This study is a survey of the educational attitudes of all nurses (290) working in psychiatric practice in Malta mainly concentrated at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Hospital. The homogenous group consisted of the three levels of nursing education (registered, enrolled and nursing aides) from all salary scales including management. Nurses from full or part-time employment, different working rosters and areas of practice were included. Aspects of the educational attitudes measured included attitudes toward education in a general way, towards psychiatric nursing, ongoing professional education and the in-service training already being held at the hospital. The preferred methods of learning were also measured. The salary clerks distributed the tailor-made, self-administered questionnaire in June 1998 with the pay cheque. The returned (anonymous) questionnaires amounted to 104, represented 36% of the target population. Findings, which were analyzed according to the three basic educational levels of nurses, showed that there was a direct positive correlation between the general educational attitudes, willingness to learn and the level of basic nursing education. A negative correlation was also identified when measuring attitudes towards the physical environment with the nursing level. Thus, highest basic nursing qualifications indicated the healthiest educational attitude and high willingness to learn. An overall weak positive attitude towards further education was identified from all nurses who generally favored case discussions. This study has implications for those planning staff updating programmes with limited resources. KEY WORDS: Motivation; aptitude; readiness or willingness to learn; ongoing education; continuing professional education; in-service training; psychiatric nursing; mental health nursing; nursing aides; nursing assistants; enrolled nurses; registered nurses.