Psychiatric nurses' views and practices about PRN (when necessary) medication.

Abstract

The aim of the study was to explore nurse's views and attitudes of PRN medication. The objectives were to identify reasons why nurses administer PRN medication, determine what types of drugs are administered as PRN, examine the time when PRN is administered and explore the nurses' consideration of alternative therapeutic approaches. In this quantitative study the whole population of nurses working in acute psychiatric wards in the local psychiatric hospital were sampled, and forty six consented to participate in the study. The questionnaires were distributed by the respective nursing officer of the unit and consisted of three sections, the demographic data, the usage of PRN medications and views regarding PRN medication. The questionnaire was analysed manually with Microsoft Excel Sheets and with the aid of graphs and tables. The open ended questions were analysed by content analysis and presented with excerpts from the participants. The most common reasons for administration were to aid sleep (89.96%) and to reduce agitation (73.91 %), and it was administered both on patient's requests and when nurses thought necessary. The most common types of drugs administered were benzodiazepines (84. 78%) and antipsychotics (52.17%). PRN medication was mostly administered during the night (65.22%). Alternative approaches were foreseen as important by most of the participants in this study. This quantitative study added to the available information surrounding mental health nurses' practices with PRN medication. The sample was taken from the whole population with a response rate of 73%. However, the questionnaire was designed by the researcher himself and was not extensively tested, therefore certain questions might have been misunderstood and if clarified results might have been different. The study within its limitations attempted to learn more about nurses' practices and views of PRN medication locally. It is recommended that another study is undertaken by means of a retrospective audit to observe further the nurses' practices of PRN medication.