ABSTRACT
Background: Nurses` knowledge and attitudes has become an important part for caring of mentally ill patients in order to provide quality care and information effectively by health education, develop strategies to manage side effects of antipsychotic medications, and encourage adherence to medication in psychiatric settings. Aim of the study: The aim of this research was to assess the psychiatric nurses` knowledge and attitudes toward antipsychotic medications. Methods: A descriptive exploratory design was used. A purposeful sample of 100 nurses (males & females) were recruited for the study with inclusion criteria: Both sexes, working with psychiatric patients for not less than two years, and willingness to participate in the study. The study was conducted at the Psychiatric Mental Health Hospital in Benha City Tools for data collection were socio-demographic characteristics of the studied nurses`, knowledge questionnaire about antipsychotic medications, Likert scale to assess nurses` attitudes toward antipsychotic medications, and Difficulty Implementing Adherence Strategies scales (DIASs) Conclusion: It may be concluded that psychiatric nurses` had good knowledge about antipsychotic medications, they had neutral attitudes toward antipsychotic medications, more than three quarters of the psychiatric nurses` had high difficulty for implementing adherence strategies for non-adherent patients and the majority did not attend training courses about antipsychotic medications. The study recommended: Educational programs for nurse staff about medication management and their roles in how to rehabilitate patients and supporting patients with medication adherence strategies, and further studies are necessary, using a larger probability sample for generalization of the results
Key words: Antipsychotic medications - Nurse – knowledge- Attitudes - Adherence strategies.
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