Increasing staff knowledge of and improving attitudes toward patients with borderline personality disorder.

This study examined the effect of a self-instructional program on nurses' knowledge of and attitudes and behavioral intentions toward patients with borderline personality disorder. The sample consisted of registered nurses working on inpatient psychiatric units of general hospitals: 19 in the experimental group and 13 in the control group. The Questionnaire on Borderline Personality Disorder was administered before and after nurses completed the program. Significant postintervention differences in knowledge of and attitudes toward patients with the disorder were found between the experimental group and the control group. Self-instruction may improve nurses' care of patients with borderline personality disorder.