Investigation of the relationship between nurses’ levels of mental health literacy, holistic nursing competencies, and professional self-efficacy

World J Psychiatry. 2025 Apr 19;15(4):102672. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v15.i4.102672. eCollection 2025 Apr 19.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Given their responsibility for the well-being of individuals, nurses with advanced mental health literacy, along with strong holistic nursing competencies and professional self-efficacy, are better equipped to assess both the mental and physical health of their patients, leading to the provision of holistic nursing care.

AIM: To investigate the relationship between nurses’ mental health literacy levels and their holistic nursing competencies, as well as their nursing professional self-efficacy.

METHODS: This study is cross-sectional, correlational research. The study sample consisted of a total of 261 volunteer nurses working in a training and research hospital and a state hospital between March 11, 2024 and April 8, 2024. Data were collected face to face with the “Descriptive Data Form”, “Mental Health Literacy Scale (MHLS)”, “Holistic Nursing Competence Scale (HNCS)”, and the “Nursing Profession Self-Efficacy Scale (NPSES)”.

RESULTS: The mean scale scores for the nurses were as follows: MHLS: 95.88 ± 11.67; HNCS: 179.46 ± 33.82; NPSES: 64.79 ± 11.24. A low-level positive correlation was found between the total scores of the MHLS, HNCS, and NPSES, and a moderate-level positive correlation was observed between the total scores of the HNCS and NPSES. These correlations were statistically significant (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION: It is recommended that initiatives be undertaken to enhance the mental health literacy and holistic nursing competencies of nurses and that similar studies be conducted with nurses in different institutions and with a larger number of nurses.

PMID:40309600 | PMC:PMC12038671 | DOI:10.5498/wjp.v15.i4.102672