Marketing Strategies to Reposition Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing Specialty in Student Nurse Education Programs in the United States and China

Background: The scarcity of psychiatric nurses is an increasing problem in both the United States and China. Without a systematic effort for the increased recruitment of students into the behavioral health field, the scarcity of psychiatric nurses will persist. To address this problem, three professors in the United States and a visiting international scholar of psychiatry from China joined forces to examine the issues related to the recruitment of student nurses into the mental health nursing specialty in their respective countries. The need for psychiatricmental health nursing (PMHN) practitioners is increasing internationally as more individuals are diagnosed with mental illnesses, and millions of youth and adults aged 14–24 years are at high risk. There has been considerable discussion about contributing factors associated with a decrease in the PMHN specialty. One issue is whether or not educational institutions are effectively marketing PMHN programs and providing their students with the proper curriculum and training. Materials and Methods: Literatures published within the past 10 years were reviewed in combination with the collaborative face-to-face discussions. Results: Psychiatric nursing shortage has caused concerns considering the increasing demand of patients with mental illnesses. Contributing factors were identified including aging workforce, de-emphasis of the PMHN courses in nursing education, and stigma associated with working with psychotic patients. Conclusions: Marketing strategies for repositioning PMHN programs were proposed to eliminate the shortage of PMHN nurses in both China and the United States.