To explore the mental health experiences and help-seeking behaviors among Chinese psychiatric nurses, providing a basis for developing mental health support strategies for psychiatric nurses. This descriptive qualitative study employed purposive sampling to select psychiatric nurses from September 2024 to February 2025. One-on-one, face-to-face, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted. Data were managed using NVivo 15 software and analyzed using thematic analysis. A total of 14 psychiatric nurses completed the interviews. Four main themes and 10 subthemes emerged from the thematic analysis. The four themes were as follows: (1) experiencing high stress in psychiatric nursing, (2) recognizing insufficient mental health knowledge, (3) trying to deal with distress on their own, and (4) seeking external support but facing barriers. This study revealed multiple challenges faced by psychiatric nurses regarding mental health experiences and help-seeking behaviors. Mental health and help-seeking support systems for Chinese psychiatric nurses require further improvement. Not applicable.
Yan et al. (2026) studied this question.