Abstract
Background: Educational institutions play a pivotal role in meeting healthcare needs by educating future professional nurses and other healthcare professionals. However, nursing education encounters challenges such as insufficient competencies among graduates, and a gap in theory-practice integration in the curriculum. The aim of this scoping was to identify and map out the existing literature on the integration of Mental Health Competencies in undergraduate Nursing Education and associated challenges.
Methods: This scoping review was conducted in line with the framework outlined by Arksey and O’Malley. The electronic databases of CINHAL, MedLine,Scopus, Science Direct, and Emerald Insight were used for peer-reviewed articles related to the subject topic using English search terms. Two authors independently reviewed the identified articles that met the inclusion criteria. The screening and selection process was conducted in the following phases: Firstly, the search results were imported into EPPI reviewer software, and duplicates were removed through the use of the software's built-in function. Secondly, careful screening of the titles and abstracts of all imported studies was followed based on the inclusion criteria. Thirdly, the reference list of the identified articles was screened to foster a comprehensive coverage of evidence. Full-text screening was conducted for all the identified articles and the research team carefully scrutinized this process. From 717 articles obtained from the literature, 17 were selected for critique and synthesis.
Results: The initial literature search generated 717 articles. Upon identification and careful screening, 17 eligible articles were included for data synthesis. Two key themes were reported: Integrating Mental Health Competencies in Undergraduate Nursing Education and Challenges to integrating Mental Health Competencies in undergraduate Nursing Education,
Conclusion: The findings of this scoping review indicated that various efforts are being made toward integrating mental health nursing into undergraduate nursing education. However, these efforts are constantly confronted by different challenges such as societal stigma, patient behaviours, unequal student contributions in group work activities, and difficulties in understanding patients' symptoms. Meaningful efforts should be made towards addressing these challenges to better prepare future nurses with the necessary mental health competence.