Mental health nurses' beliefs about interventions for schizophrenia and depression: a comparison with psychiatrists and the public

Objective: The main objective of this paper was to investigate and compare mental health nurses' beliefs about interventions for schizophrenia and depression with those of psychiatrists and the public. Factors affecting nurses' beliefs were also investigated. Method: This research used methods employed in previous surveys of professional and public beliefs. A postal survey of 673 Australian mental health nurses was carried out. The survey was comprised of a vignette describing a person with either depression or schizophrenia. Participants rated whether particular medical, psychological and lifestyle interventions were helpful, harmful or neither. Factors examined included: nurses' age, sex, degree of contact with similar problems, work setting, level of highest qualification and whether their education was hospital-based or completed within the tertiary sector. Results: The nurses agreed with psychiatrists (but not the public) about the interventions most likely to be helpful, such as antidepressants for depression and antipsychotic medication for schizophrenia. However, there were many differences between nurses, psychiatrists and the public. Nurses were more likely than psychiatrists to believe that certain non-standard interventions such as vitamins, minerals and visiting a naturopath would be helpful. Nurses' beliefs tended to form a bridge between the attitudes of psychiatrists and the public for some of these non-standard interventions. Age, work setting and qualifications were related to nurses' intervention beliefs. Conclusions: Mental health practitioners need to be aware of a range of beliefs within mental health services. The acknowledgement of differing belief systems is important for high quality, integrated care.