Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify effects of a psychiatric and mental health nursing class to improve knowledge about schizophrenia, attitudes toward mental illness, and learning satisfaction after using an illness narrative of a patient with schizophrenia. Methods: This study was in nonequivalent control group and a pretest-posttest design. Of the 88 nursing students, the 34 in the experimental group received 5 hours of lectures on schizophrenia plus 2 hours of learning using a patient's illness narrative. The control group (n=54) received only the 5 hours of lectures on schizophrenia. During September, 2017, an online survey was used to collect data before and after the intervention. Data were analyzed using t-tests and Mann-Whitney U tests with SPSS Statistics version 22.0. Results: There were no differences for knowledge on schizophrenia or for attitudes toward mental illness between the experimental group and the control group after the intervention. However, learning satisfaction was significantly higher in the experimental group compared to the control group (Z=-2.18, p=.029). Conclusion: Findings indicate that patient illness narratives could be a useful tool to improve learning satisfaction in nursing students. Therefore, using patient illness narratives in nursing classes is recommended.