State Nursing Licensure Questions About Mental Illness and Compliance With the Americans With Disabilities Act.

The current article describes a review of U.S. states and the District of Columbia boards of nursing pre-licensure applications, which were collected, summarized, and evaluated to assess compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). Less than one half (n = 21) of RN licensing boards do not ask questions about mental illness on pre-licensure applications. Of the 30 boards that ask questions about mental illness, eight focus on current disability, which is legal under the ADA. The remaining 22 boards ask non-ADA-compliant questions by targeting specific diagnoses, focusing on historical data in the absence of current impairment, and/or requiring a prediction of future impairment. Nursing boards are urged to join colleagues in law, psychology, and medicine in using ADA-acceptable applications by eliminating mental health questions or limiting them to current impairment queries. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 57(8), 17-22.].

Moderated path analysis of the relationships between masculinity and men's attitudes toward seeking psychological help.

This study tested a theoretical model of one mediator and 4 moderators of the relationships between 2 masculinity variables (Traditional Masculinity Ideology and Gender Role Conflict) and Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Services (Attitudes). Self-stigma was the hypothesized mediator, and the hypothesized moderators were (a) Depression, (b) General Self-efficacy, (c) Precontemplation, and (d) Barriers to Help-seeking. A sample of 654 men responded to an online survey of 9 questionnaires. After evaluating mediation in the absence of moderation, moderated path analyses were conducted for each moderator. The relationship between Traditional Masculinity Ideology and Attitudes was partially mediated by Self-stigma, whereas that between Gender Role Conflict and Attitudes was completely mediated. No indirect or direct paths involving Gender Role Conflict were moderated by any moderators. Both Depression and Barriers to Help-seeking demonstrated mediated moderation by moderating both Stage 1 (the path from Traditional Masculinity Ideology to Self-stigma) of the mediated relationships and the direct effects between Traditional Masculinity Ideology and Attitudes. Precontemplation moderated the direct effect between Traditional Masculinity Ideology and Attitudes. The findings suggest that the relationships between masculinity variables and men's negative help-seeking attitudes may be better understood through their relationships with other variables that serve as mediators and moderators. Findings from the present study may offer some direction in the design of interventions to remediate men's negative help-seeking attitudes.

Bath salts: they are not what you think.

Psychoactive bath salts are a relatively new group of designer drugs sold as tablets, capsules, or powder and pur-chased in places such as tobacco and convenience stores, gas stations, head shops, and the Internet. Bath salts are stimulant agents that mimic cocaine,lysergic acid diethylamide, methamphetamine, or methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy). The most common bath salts are the cathinone derivatives 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone(MDPV), 4-methylmethcathinone(mephedrone), and 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylcathinone (methylone). The drugs cause intense stimulation, eu-phoria, elevated mood, and a pleasurable "rush" Tachycardia, hypertension,peripheral constriction, chest pain, hallucinations, paranoia, erratic behavior,inattention, lack of memory of substance use, and psychosis have been observed in those who have used bath salts. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration recently exercised an emergency authority to name three key ingredients in bath salts as Schedule I, thereby making them illegal to possess or sell in the United States. Nursing implications related to both clinical and educational settings are discussed.

Stigma and help seeking related to depression: a study of nursing students.

The stigmatization of people with mental illnesses and its effect on help-seeking behaviors have been identified by the Surgeon General and the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health as significant issues on the nation's health care agenda. Negative perceptions regarding depression and its treatment contribute to the 30,000 suicides committed annually in the United States. Nurses have the potential to exert tremendous influence toward overcoming this problem, contingent on their attitudes toward depression and its treatment. As nurses and future nurses, students enrolled in both a basic and degree-completion baccalaureate program comprised a sample that represented the influence of the educational process. This descriptive, correlational study measured attitudes toward an individual with depression, described in a vignette, and personal help-seeking intention, and examined the effects of personal variables on help-seeking intention. Students who believed depression was not under personal control were more likely to endorse help seeking for themselves. Individuals who were women, older, upperclassmen, and Catholic reported greater acceptance of seeking psychological help. The role of the psychiatric-mental health nursing class and rotation were identified as improving stigmatizing attitudes and increasing help-seeking intention.

Perceived characteristics of psychiatric nurses: stigma by association.

The focus of this study was the concept of stigma by association, or the negative characteristics attributed to individuals (usually family members) who are in close contact with people who are stigmatized. Psychiatric nurses may likewise be affected by this stigma. Responses from 122 nurses indicated that psychiatric nursing is the least preferred specialty of 10 areas. Psychiatric nurses were least likely to be described as skilled, logical, dynamic, and respected. The findings suggest that psychiatric nursing may be stigmatized by association. Implications, especially in terms of the role of health care professionals in perpetuating stigma, are explored.