A Study to Assess the Knowledge and Attitude of the Staff Nurses Regarding the Management of Patients with Depression in Selected Psychiatric Hospitals in Bangalore

Abstract

A descriptive study was conducted to assess the knowledge and attitude of the staff nurses towards the management of patients having depression in some selected psychiatric hospitals of Bangalore. The objectives of the study were to assess the knowledge and attitude of staff nurses and to find the association between the selected demographic variables and knowledge and attitude. The study samples (staff nurses) were selected by simple random sampling technique. The knowledge was assessed by using structured knowledge questionnaire and attitude by Likert scale. The result revealed that out of 60 samples surveyed majority of 24 (40.00%) had moderate knowledge, 20 (33.33%) had poor knowledge and only 16 (26.67%) had good knowledge regarding the management of patients with depression. In attitude, most of 35 (58.33%) had moderate favourable attitude, 18 (30.00%) had negative attitude and only 7 (11.00%) had positive attitude regarding the management of patients with depression. Significant association between age and knowledge score of staff nurses was found and there was also a significant association shown between the demographic variable i.e. age, experience in psychiatric unit and attitude. There was a significant association between the knowledge and attitude of staff nurses regarding depression management.