The Challenges of Psychiatric Nursing Specialty: Education and Practice in Nigeria

Abstract

The current mental health care system in Nigeria continues to struggle with providing adequate care and services to all that require it due to limited resources, stigma of persons and families living with mental illness, biases from other professional team members and the complexities of treatment of many of those individuals that suffer from mental illness. Mental health nurses, also referred to as psychiatric nurses, are impacted by these same biases, limited resources, and complexities in their role. This paper highlights the challenges of psychiatric nursing as a profession, and societal perception of both those who have mental illness and those who provide treatment. It is imperative that psychiatric nurses should continue to educate other health care professionals as well as the general public of the role of the psychiatric nurse and those who suffer from mental illness. Unfortunately, the biases of the pre-colonia era are still upheld in the 21st century.