pharmacology 1 Flashcards
psychotropic medications
Affect mood, perception, and behaviour
provided relief to people experiencing the
debilitating symptoms of mental illnesses
Whereas confinement and
containment
was the norm treatment before these disoders
Psychoactive medications results in au
hospital beds for the treatment
of psychiatric illness dropped
from around 30,000
nurses and psychotropic medications
don’t prescribe psychotropic medications, they are
responsible for their administration and for monitoring efficacy
Psychotropic drugs have – and are intended to have
significant impact on the way people think, feel and behave;
that is, they are not only powerful and potentially therapeutic
substances, but also intrusive and open to gross misuse…
Their impact on personal and social functioning is typically
severe …and, not infrequently, more disruptive to life than the
original complaint
Psychopharmacology – Pt Views
Consumers are often distressed and desperate when medications are
introduced, and (often) assume that the doctors and nurses caring for
them are knowledgeable about the substances they are asked to take
the nurse should also inform pt
- inform them of potential side-effects and how to deal with them
- have some idea about how long the medication may be required
- be open to ongoing communication about efficacy
Consumers find side-effects
very distressing - both experiencing them
or seeing them in other consumers - and this will affect their perception
of ‘benefit’ from taking meds
Psychopharmacology – Dr Views
Some doctors report that they do consider the risks associated
with medications, but see meds as less problematic than other
solutions (inpatient treatment, counselling, alternate therapies,
non-treatment etc) and more likely to enhance consumers’
functionality
doctors and side effects
They also report that they don’t tend to see any side effects,
and that consumers often don’t report side effects, so this
improves the [perceived] risk-benefit ratio
Some doctors report scepticism towards non-pharmacological
approaches to treating symptoms
Duty of care and the need for risk management
(controlling
liability of individuals and health services) tends to inform
treatment choices just as much as the consumer’s views and
perceptions
Psychopharmacology – RN Views
Mental health nurses report that together with considering risks
associated with meds, they understand that their role is to educate
and support consumers taking psychotropics, along with their
families and carers
• Mental health nurses also report
that they assume that consumers
have good knowledge of their meds – but that this is often not true
• Many nurses have reported that they have to self-educate on
medication due to lack of in-service education
• High client turnover, lack of structured approach to care/treatment
plans, and high doctor turnover can all increase the difficulty of the
nurse’s role
New medications are being developed all the time, with education
about the product coming largely from representatives of the
company manufacturing the drug
Treating Mental Illness
Regardless of beliefs about or understanding
of what mental illness IS, there is no doubt that
people experiencing psychological and
emotional distress may require treatment of
their symptoms at some time, for either brief
periods or over the mid- to long-term
• What this treatment should be, and for how
long, and by whom it should be authorised and
why, continues to be discussed, argued over
and challenged
• For registered nurses working in a
biopsychosocial paradigm
informed by the
medical model and current consumer-driven
focus on the Recovery Model, knowledge of
the common types of medications is therefore
required
