Medication Compliance In Nursing

Medication compliance is an issue that many patients with a mental illness face; whether it be due to lack of knowledge or the side effects they produce. Medication compliance is a major factor in the treatment of mental illnesses and when patients do not adhere to this regimen, it causes a downward spiral and relapse of behavior. It is important as a nurse to understand the reasons for non-adherence to better care for each individual patient. By understanding the rationale behind patients not complying with their medications, nurses can educate and investigate a different plan of care that will in turn lead to a higher level of compliance. A study conducted on schizophrenia patients investigated the reasons for noncompliance and what the …show more content…
The activity and game seemed to be the hardest to come up with. We felt as if there were not many games that we could play that could have a medication compliance spin to it. We ended up coming up with a game that helped evaluate the patient’s ability to read prescription labels and be knowledgeable on the medication handed to them. We filled jars with jelly beans and made mock prescription labels that had directions on various task to do; this allowed us to determine the patients that could follow directions and read the medication handed to them. After the activity we decided to use this time to elaborate on the importance of knowing the details of the medication being prescribed to them and seek clarification if there is something they don’t understand. As a group, we felt as though this was a creative way to enhance the importance of gaining knowledge on the medications a patient is being prescribed and seek clarification if they have unfavorable side effects or outcomes. The game we decided to incorporate into the beginning of the group presentation was the use of a word search. We decided to do this at the beginning to get the patients familiar with some of the topics we were going to be discussing throughout the presentation.
With analyzing various studies done on the factors that influence nonadherence to medication, we were able to conclude the main reasons for noncompliance. In both the articles, the conclusions for noncompliance were relatively the same, both having to relate to lack of knowledge on illness or need for medication as well as patients attitudes. After concluding that these were the major factors that led to noncompliance, we were able to come up with a better understanding of what we needed to include in the group