A mixed-mode approach to data collection: combining web and paper questionnaires to examine nurses' attitudes to mental illness.

AIM: This paper is a report an evaluation of the use of a sequential mixed-mode approach to data collection in a study of attitudes to mental illness and people with mental health problems held by Registered Nurses working in adult acute inpatient and psychiatric intensive care settings. BACKGROUND: The use of electronic tools for data collection is becoming increasingly common in nursing research. Currently there is a lack of reports of the use of mixed-mode designs featuring both web and paper questionnaires. The efficacy of this approach remains unclear. METHOD: Web and paper versions of a questionnaire including the Community Attitudes towards the Mentally Ill scale were distributed in 2007 to all 148 Registered Nurses working in acute care settings in an English mental healthcare organization. RESULTS: The mixed-mode design was successful in increasing overall response rate. Data collection mode was indicative of statistically significantly different response rates, but had no impact on differences in nurses' socio-demographic characteristics or attitudes to mental illness. The use of email reminders had a positive impact on the web questionnaire return rate. CONCLUSION: Future nursing studies could benefit from a mixed-mode study design to attain increased response rates and reduce non-response bias, although further research should be undertaken with larger groups of nurses to verify consistently the absence of mode effect on study outcomes.

Nursing and midwife students' willingness to provide care to patients with HIV/AIDS--a comparative study in Finland, Estonia and Lithuania.

This article presents results on nursing and midwife students' willingness to care for patients with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS). An international cross-sectional survey design was used and the data were collected from educational institutions in Finland (N=169), Estonia (N=132) and Lithuania (N=170) between autumn 2005 and spring 2006. Participants (N=471) were nursing and midwife students training to be RN, public health nurses or midwives. A modified version of a scale developed by Duppert et al. (1994) was applied to measure willingness to care for patients with HIV/AIDS. The study found a general willingness on the part of students to provide care for patients with HIV/AIDS. However, nursing and midwife students willingness varied between countries and was also related to specific nursing interventions. Factors associated with students willingness also varied within each country, depending on nurses' age, nursing experience (Finland), positive attitudes to treating patients with HIV/AIDS in general (Finland, Estonia), and previous experience in taking care of a patient with HIV/AIDS (Lithuania). It is important to develop strategies for nursing vulnerable patient populations and international nursing curricula to identify prejudicial thinking and intolerance towards patients with HIV/AIDS.

Willingness to care for patients with HIV/AIDS.

This study aims to describe and compare nurses' willingness to provide care for patients with HIV/AIDS and factors associated with this in three countries. An international cross-sectional survey was conducted among nurses working in medical, surgical and gynaecology units in Finland (n =427), Estonia (n =221) and Lithuania ( n =185) in early 2006. The response rates were 75% (n = 322) in Finland, 54% (n =119) in Estonia and 86% (n = 160) in Lithuania. A modified version of a scale developed in 1994 by Dubbert et al. was applied. Our findings showed a general willingness of the nurse participants to provide care for patients with HIV/AIDS. However, this willingness varied both among and within countries and was also related to specific nursing interventions. The results underline the importance of providing education on ethical issues related to HIV/AIDS care in Europe and tailoring the content of this education to meet nurses' national educational needs.