Experience of Nursing Students in Mental Health Training in Kenya

Introduction: In Kenya, there are few psychiatric nurses available to provide mental health services. Few students pursue psychiatric nursing specialty. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the factors affecting psychiatric clinical experience of students of nursing during mental health nursing placement and its influence on the choice of psychiatric nursing specialty training. Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted with a sample size of 241 participants was carried out in 3 universities and 6 diploma training colleges in Kenya. Cluster and systematic random sampling was used to select the study participants. Statistical significance was set at p≤0.05. Results: Based on two-sided t-test, a significant relationship existed between value of mental health and willingness to pursue psychiatric nursing. Students who liked psychiatric nursing had a higher mean in the domain of value of mental health with a mean of 4.8 (95% CI= 4.7-4.9) unlike their counterparts with a mean of 4.5 (95% CI=4.4-4.6); p