INTRODUCTION:

The mental status examination (MSE) is an important part of the clinical assessment process in neurological and psychiatric practice. It is a structured way of observing and describing a patient's psychological functioning at a given point in time, under the domains of appearance, attitude, behavior, mood, and affect, speech, thought process, thought content, perception, cognition, insight, and judgment¹.

The mental status examination is a core skill of psychiatrist, nurses and other qualified mental health providers. It is a key part of the initial psychiatric assessment in an outpatient or psychiatric hospital setting.

It is a systemic collection of data based on observation of the patient's behavior while the patient is in the clinician's view during the interview. The purpose is to obtain evidence of symptoms and signs of mental disorder, including danger to self and others, that are present at the time of the interview. Further, information on patient's insight, judgments, and capacity for abstract reasoning is used to formulate decision about treatment strategy and the choice of an appropriate treatment setting².

NEED FOR THE STUDY:

In India, 1 in every 5 individuals suffers from some form of mental health illness symptoms. 50% of mental health conditions begin by age 14 and 75% of mental health conditions developed by age 24³.

Mental health in India is still a fairy new topic and the myths and taboos attached to this subject are prevalent to this date. Close to 60 to 70 million people in the country suffer from common and severe mental disorders⁴.

In practice, the MSE is a blend of empathic descriptive phenomenology and empirical clinical observation. It has been argued that the term phenomenology has become corrupted in clinical psychiatry: current usage, as a set of supposedly objective descriptions of a psychiatric patient (a synonym for signs and symptoms), is incompatible with the original meaning which was concerned with comprehending a patient's subjective experience⁵.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

1. To assess level of pretest knowledge regarding MSE among 2nd y year GNM students at selected college in Jamnagar city.

2. To evaluate the effectiveness of structured teaching programme on MSE among year GNM students at selected college in Jamnagar city 2^nd.

3. To find out the association between level of knowledge on MSE with their selected demographic variables.

HYPOTHESIS:

H₁: There will be significant difference between Pre-test & Post-test knowledge scores among 2nd year GNM students regarding MSE.

H2: There will be significant association between Pre-test knowledge of 2nd year GNM students regarding MSE with their selected demographic variables.

MATERIAL AND METHODS:

Research Design:

Pre-experimental research design was chosen for this study without randomization.

Setting:

The study was conducted in selected college at Jamnagar city.

Population:

Accessible population for this study includes 2nd year GNM students of selected college at jamnagar city.

Sample:

Selected 40 samples.

Sampling Technique:

The samples were selected for this study by convenient sampling techniques.

Data Analysis:

The demographic variables were organized by using descriptive measures, effectiveness structured teaching programme evaluated by t-test, and the association between the level of knowledge and the selected demographic variables were assessed by chi-square test⁶.

Description of Tool:

The investigator will prepare a data collection tool consisting of two sections:

Section I - A questionnaire to assess personal information of students. It includes Age group (in years), gender, stream of education, marital status.

Section II - A semi structured knowledge questionnaire to assess the knowledge regarding MSE among 2nd year GNM students.

It comprised items on knowledge regarding MSE. There are total 30 multiple choice items having one correct answer and 10 true or false. each items carried Imark. Total items are 40 and total maximum score is 40. Blue print is prepared according to the content area as well as level of cognitive domain - knowledge, comprehension and application.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION:

Major Findings:

The major findings of the study include:

A. Findings Related to Demographic Characteristic of Subjects:

· Majority of the sample 28(70.0%) were between 17-20 year age

· Majority of the sample 34(85.0%) were female group

· Majority of the sample 25(62.5%) were from commerce stream

· Majority of the sample 38(95%) were unmarried

B. Findings According to Assessment of Knowledge:

During pre-test 14(35%) were having adequate knowledge, 18(45%) were having moderate level knowledge and 8(20%) were having inadequate knowledge and during post-test 32(80%) were improved to adequate knowledge, 8(20%) were to moderate and no one was in inadequate knowledge.

C. Findings According to Effectiveness of Structured Teaching Programme:

The pre-test mean was 26.57 and post-test 33.07, the mean difference 6.50. Standard deviation in pre-test 6.13 and pot-test 3.76; the obtained t- value was 9.75*** and degree of freedom 39, probability 3.5581, the obtained t-value was highly significant at 0.001 level.

D. Findings according to association between level of knowledge and demographic variables:

Out of all demographic variables like age, gender, stream of education, marrital status were having significant association at 0.001 level.

CONCLUSION:

The main conclusion from this present study is that respondents studying in selected college at Jamnagar city had inadequate and moderate level of knowledge in pre-test and after administering structured teaching programme majority of them gained adequate knowledge. Structured teaching would prove to be an effective educational method which changes Knowledge of students and improves healthy behaviours among them.

REFERENCES:

1. Shreevani R. A Guide to Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing. 4th edition. Jaypee Brothers: Medical Publishers (P) Ltd, New Delhi; 2010.

2. Palanivelu S, Sembian N. Knowledge on Mental status examination among Nursing Students. Indian Journal of Medicine. 2016.

3. https://m.economictimes.com/magazines/panache/world-mental-health-day-60-70-mn-people-in-india-suffer-from-common-mental-disorders-stigmatisation-financial-barriers-prevent-timely-treatment/amp_articleshow/104289268

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_status_examination

5. https://www.liquisearch.com/mental_status_examination/theoretical_foundations

6. Sharma SK. Nursing Research and Statistics. 1st edition. Ludhiana. Punjab (India) Elsevier. A division Reed Elsevier India Pvt. Ltd; 2011.

Received on 15.04.2026 Revised on 09.06.2026

Accepted on 24.07.2026 Published on 10.08.2026

Available online from August 14, 2026

Int. J. of Advances in Nursing Management. 2026;14(3):150-152.

DOI: 10.52711/2454-2652.2026.00031

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