Nurses Opinion on the Attributes of Polypharmacy in Patient Safety

Nurses play a functional role in preventing drug related problems. They need to be aware of the dangers of polypharmacy while reviewing patient medications. We studied the nurses' opinion on the diverse effects of polypharmacy in the hospital setting. Nurses working in a tertiary care teaching...

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Main Authors: Fathi Mohamed Mohamed, Shirwaikar Arun, Arifulla Mohamed, Muttappallymyalil Jayakumary, Sreedharan Jayadevan, Cheriathu Jenny, John Lisha Jenny
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Tehran University of Medical Sciences 2012-07-01
Series:Acta Medica Iranica
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journals.tums.ac.ir/PdfMed.aspx?pdf_med=/upload_files/pdf/21710.pdf&manuscript_id=21710
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spelling doaj-0846fa61969341cabf3cc02db8ae4cc52020-11-25T03:17:54ZengTehran University of Medical SciencesActa Medica Iranica0044-60250173-59692012-07-01507516521Nurses Opinion on the Attributes of Polypharmacy in Patient SafetyFathi Mohamed MohamedShirwaikar ArunArifulla MohamedMuttappallymyalil JayakumarySreedharan JayadevanCheriathu JennyJohn Lisha JennyNurses play a functional role in preventing drug related problems. They need to be aware of the dangers of polypharmacy while reviewing patient medications. We studied the nurses' opinion on the diverse effects of polypharmacy in the hospital setting. Nurses working in a tertiary care teaching hospital participated in this cross-sectional study, conducted over 3 months, by responding to a self-administered questionnaire. Chi-square test was used to analyze association between socio-demographic characteristics and items in the study. A value of P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Increased drug interactions scored the highest (98.1%), followed by increased adverse drug effects (81.9%), and increase in financial burden (69.5%) among the negative effects of polypharmacy. 61% of the respondents felt that polypharmacy increased therapeutic effect in polypathology. No difference was observed in the opinion between male and female nurses or among varying nursing experience. Nurses with 5-10 years of experience opined increase in non-compliance to prescribed medication regimen and increase in financial burden also as negative attributes. Nurses pointed out both positive and negative implications of polypharmacy. Training programs such as continuing nursing education and workshops can be planned to translate this knowledge into practice in their routine nursing practice.http://journals.tums.ac.ir/PdfMed.aspx?pdf_med=/upload_files/pdf/21710.pdf&manuscript_id=21710PolypharmacyNegative outcomesOpinionDrug interactions
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Fathi Mohamed Mohamed
Shirwaikar Arun
Arifulla Mohamed
Muttappallymyalil Jayakumary
Sreedharan Jayadevan
Cheriathu Jenny
John Lisha Jenny
spellingShingle Fathi Mohamed Mohamed
Shirwaikar Arun
Arifulla Mohamed
Muttappallymyalil Jayakumary
Sreedharan Jayadevan
Cheriathu Jenny
John Lisha Jenny
Nurses Opinion on the Attributes of Polypharmacy in Patient Safety
Acta Medica Iranica
Polypharmacy
Negative outcomes
Opinion
Drug interactions
author_facet Fathi Mohamed Mohamed
Shirwaikar Arun
Arifulla Mohamed
Muttappallymyalil Jayakumary
Sreedharan Jayadevan
Cheriathu Jenny
John Lisha Jenny
author_sort Fathi Mohamed Mohamed
title Nurses Opinion on the Attributes of Polypharmacy in Patient Safety
title_short Nurses Opinion on the Attributes of Polypharmacy in Patient Safety
title_full Nurses Opinion on the Attributes of Polypharmacy in Patient Safety
title_fullStr Nurses Opinion on the Attributes of Polypharmacy in Patient Safety
title_full_unstemmed Nurses Opinion on the Attributes of Polypharmacy in Patient Safety
title_sort nurses opinion on the attributes of polypharmacy in patient safety
publisher Tehran University of Medical Sciences
series Acta Medica Iranica
issn 0044-6025
0173-5969
publishDate 2012-07-01
description Nurses play a functional role in preventing drug related problems. They need to be aware of the dangers of polypharmacy while reviewing patient medications. We studied the nurses' opinion on the diverse effects of polypharmacy in the hospital setting. Nurses working in a tertiary care teaching hospital participated in this cross-sectional study, conducted over 3 months, by responding to a self-administered questionnaire. Chi-square test was used to analyze association between socio-demographic characteristics and items in the study. A value of P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Increased drug interactions scored the highest (98.1%), followed by increased adverse drug effects (81.9%), and increase in financial burden (69.5%) among the negative effects of polypharmacy. 61% of the respondents felt that polypharmacy increased therapeutic effect in polypathology. No difference was observed in the opinion between male and female nurses or among varying nursing experience. Nurses with 5-10 years of experience opined increase in non-compliance to prescribed medication regimen and increase in financial burden also as negative attributes. Nurses pointed out both positive and negative implications of polypharmacy. Training programs such as continuing nursing education and workshops can be planned to translate this knowledge into practice in their routine nursing practice.
topic Polypharmacy
Negative outcomes
Opinion
Drug interactions
url http://journals.tums.ac.ir/PdfMed.aspx?pdf_med=/upload_files/pdf/21710.pdf&manuscript_id=21710
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