Abstract:Objective To uderstand the status of mental health awareness of nurses and related factors in the general hospital, in order to provide the basis for continuing education for nurses. Methods Totally 281 nurses were selected through convenience sampling from the First Affiliated Hospital of Gannan Medical University. They were investigated with the questionnaire about awereness of mental health which was from the Notice About Mental Health Indicators Investigation and Assessment Program issued by the General Office of the Ministry of Health in 2010. Results The average score of knowledge of mental health of undergraduates in the general hospital was (16.28 ± 1.96), and the total awareness rate was 81.42%. The scores of the awareness questionnaire were higher in the nurses of the Internal Medicine Department, the Outpatient Department and the Emergency Department than in the nurses of the Surgical Department. There was no significant difference in mental health knowledge between the nurses with different educational backgrounds, different titles or different duration of service. Conclusions The results suggest that there are still differentces between the mental health awareness of nurses in general hospital and the requirements. They are lack of knowledge of the nature, causes and amemorial days of mental diseases. The general hospital should carry out the corres-ponding publicity and education.