Knowledge of Medication Management and Therapeutic Care Practices Among Nurses Caring for Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study
Keywords:
Medication Management, , Therapeutic Care, Nurses, Polypharmacy, Geriatric Nursing, Patient SafetyAbstract
Background: Older people often have several chronic diseases, and they need to take multiple medications and undergo ongoing therapy. The purposes of this study were to determine the knowledge of medication management and therapeutic care practices among caregivers (nurses) of older adults and to explore factors associated with the level of knowledge. Methods: A cross-sectional study design (n=120) via convenience sampling technique used a structured self-administered questionnaire to evaluate knowledge about medication administration, drug interactions, adverse drug reactions, managing polypharmacy, therapeutic monitoring and educating patients. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 26.0 with p-value < 0.05 as statistically significant. Results: The overall mean score of their knowledge was 78.4 ± 10.6 out of 100. It was observed that the majority of the nurses (61.7%) had good knowledge, 28.3 % had moderate knowledge, and 10.0% had poor knowledge. A significant correlation was found between knowledge and some factors, such as higher scores with increasing clinical experience and higher scores with those who had recently completed professional training (p< 0.05). There were positive relationships between knowledge and years of experience (r = 0.49, p < 0.001) as well as between knowledge and attendance in continuing education activities (r = 0.52, p < 0.001). Multiple regression analysis showed that continuing professional education (β = 0.38, p < 0.001) and clinical experience (β = 0.31, p = 0.002) were significant factors related to knowledge about medication management and therapeutic care practices. Conclusion: The majority of nurses showed evidence of good knowledge of medication management and therapeutic practices for older people. There was a significant contribution to higher knowledge level from professional training and clinical experience.
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