ASHMORE, R. J., BANKS, D. and CARVER, N. (2007). Mental health nursing students' relationships with the pharmaceutical industry. Nurse Education Today, 27 (6), 551-560.
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The medical profession's relationship with the pharmaceutical industry (PI) has come under increased scrutiny in recent years, however little is known on the subject in mental health nursing. AIMS: The study sought to investigate: (1) the frequency of contact between mental health nursing students and PI employees; (2) students' attitudes and beliefs about their relationship with the PI; (3) the range of 'gifts', promotional items and hospitality accepted or seen in clinical environments by students in a one year period; and (4) students' attitudes to 'gifts', promotional items and hospitality offered by the industry. METHOD: Employing a survey design, a 35-item questionnaire was distributed to 472 students at two universities in the UK. Data were analysed from 347 respondents by means of descriptive statistics and simple content analysis. RESULTS: The findings suggest that students have significant contact with the industry through one-to-one meetings with pharmaceutical representatives (PRs) and by attending events giving information on specific drugs or general mental health issues. Students also identified a number of benefits (e.g. receiving "up-to-date" information on new drugs) and problems (e.g. the potential influence exerted on practitioners to use their drugs) arising out of this contact. Most students (79.8%) had accepted some form of 'gift' from the industry but few (11.5%) believed it was unacceptable to do so. The presence of promotional items in the clinical environment was seen as advertising (84.4%) but few students (19.3%) believed clinical environment should be free of these items. Over half (57.1%) of the students believed that PRs did not always give unbiased information but thought that they and mental health nurses in general would be able to detect any bias. CONCLUSIONS: In parallel with medicine, the study has shown that the pharmaceutical industry has at least the potential to influence mental health nursing students. Within medicine this realisation has triggered a vigorous debate on how medical schools should respond to the promotional activities of the PI. We suggest this study goes some way to demonstrating there is a need for these issues to be debated in the education of mental health nurses.
Item Type: | Article |
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Uncontrolled Keywords: | Bias, Educational and drug seminars, Gifts and promotional items, Influence, Mental health nursing students, Pharmaceutical industry |
Research Institute, Centre or Group - Does NOT include content added after October 2018: | Centre for Health and Social Care Research |
Identification Number: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2006.08.016 |
Page Range: | 551-560 |
Depositing User: | Ann Betterton |
Date Deposited: | 04 Apr 2008 |
Last Modified: | 19 Mar 2021 00:46 |
URI: | https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/314 |
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