Exploring nurses' knowledge on the antipsychotic medication management in inpatient psychiatric settings in Rwanda.

Abstract

The antipsychotic medications are recognized to be a crucial treatment for mental illnesses and frequently used in psychiatric settings. They are also recognized to produce a number of adverse effects that compromise a patient’s compliance and may lead to longer stay or re-admission. Nurses are in the best position to ensure medication management as they spend 24 hours at the bedside, administer and ensure patient surveillance. This role requires knowledge on psychopharmacology especially of the medication frequently used. However, literature highlights the lack of knowledge on psychopharmacology of nurses. This study therefore, aimed to assess nurses’ level of knowledge on antipsychotic medication, to determine nurses’ knowledge on antipsychotics’ health education and to determine characteristics associated to nurses’ knowledge on medication for nurses working in inpatient psychiatric hospital in Rwanda. Nursing management of drug therapy (Aschenbrenner and Venable, 2009:2) was used as theoretical framework. A non-experimental exploratory quantitative cross sectional survey design that is descriptive in nature was used to describe, firstly participants’ score and level of knowledge and secondly associations of demographic data and knowledge score. A convenient sample of 73 nurses was given an anonymous questionnaire. The population included nurses working in inpatient psychiatric hospital in Rwanda The mean score knowledge on therapeutic effects was 72.85±14.99;81.91±16.88 mean scoreknowledge on antipsychotic name; 38.61±12.38 mean score knowledge adverse effects; 83.75±22.75 mean score knowledge on patient compliance monitoring and 74.54±32.52mean score knowledge on patient and family education practices. The overall mean score knowledge was 68.04 % ±11.53 and the majority of participants falls between 50- 74% (65.8%, n=48). There was no association of knowledge and experience, training and age. However, the association with qualification yield statistically significance (P-value=0.010). The results for this study suggest that nurses have medium knowledge on antipsychotic medication management. This study sustains the need for additional depth and breadth pharmacological education for nurses in clinical settings focusing on commonly used medications.