Attitude of Nurses towards Mental Illness in Bhutan

This paper explores the general nurses’ attitudes towards mental illness in Bhutan. A non-probability convenience sample with quantitative descriptive method was used. The sample represents the known population of nurses from National Referral Hospital (JDWNR Hospital), Thimphu. Responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics including means; standard deviations, and frequency. Cronbach’s alpha and Spearman’s correlation were used to analyze the internal consistency reliability of each factors and the correlational variation caused by each variables. Overall, the findings indicated that the nurses surveyed have a positive attitude towards mental illness (mean – 134.39, SD – 17.35). Findings from this study shows that the nurses with psychiatric experience of 3-4 weeks and 4 weeks respectively were found to have more positive attitude towards mental illness indicating that the clinical placement of nurses in psychiatric unit improves attitudes towards mental illness.  Registered Nurse Midwife, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital, Ministry of Health, Thimphu, Bhutan Journal of Bhutan Studies