Date of Conferral

9-17-2025

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Margaret Harvey

Abstract

This Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project was a staff education project that addressed the stigmatization of patients with mental illness (PMI) within psychiatric contexts. The project site healthcare organization’s mental health professionals had a high rate of stigmatization of PMI. Stigma is linked to poor medication adherence rates, delays in accessing healthcare, lower healthcare utilization among PMI, psychiatric morbidity and mortality, and poor quality of life. Despite recognizing this problem, the healthcare organization had no targeted antistigma interventions. I developed an antistigma education to improve outcomes. The practice-focused question was: In mental health staff, will an educational program on antistigma, compared to no education program, increase staff knowledge? I conducted this DNP project to determine whether implementing an antistigma education program would improve staff knowledge and awareness to lower stigma towards PMI. A total of 16 mental health staff participated and completed pre- and posttest knowledge questionnaires and a self-rated Likert-type program evaluation. Data were analyzed via percentages. Postimplementation, participants’ average knowledge score increased to 80.625% from the 48.75% recorded preimplementation. About 81.25% of participants agreed that the training could help staff lower the stigma towards PMI. Participants gained knowledge on mental health stigma, its impact on outcomes, and how to combat stigma. Further recommendations include contact-based, educational interventions and culturally sensitive practice interventions. The staff education project is expected to make a positive social impact by improving care quality, decreasing health inequalities, and developing a psychiatric healthcare system that is inclusive, efficient, and meets the needs of PMI.

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