The importance of supporting nursing students’ mental health is well recognized, yet the roles and experiences of faculty providing this support are unclear and under researched. Utilizing interpretive description and grounded in Bandura’s (1977) Self Efficacy Theory, ten nursing faculty were interviewed to better understand their experiences in providing support to nursing students training in a psychiatric setting, whether in a classroom, lab or clinical environment. Findings yielded important insight on the impact faculty support has on the mental health of nursing students when they are in a psychiatric setting, as well as clarifying faculty identities, roles, experiences, and significance behind this support. The insights allow for new knowledge in all four domains of psychiatric nursing: clinical practice, education, administration and research that can positively impact the success of students. This impact will manifest in many ways, such as inspiring further research initiatives aimed at improving student success rates and influencing policy adaptations that benefit students, leading to higher rates of success among students and improving job satisfaction for faculty members.
Author-supplied keywords: student mental health; faculty support; mandatory counselling; curriculum; inclusion; psychiatric nursing; British Columbia, Canada
