Evaluating and Optimising the Self-Administration of Medication (SAM) in an Inpatient Psychiatric Rehabilitation Setting

AIMS: To analyse the process of self-administration of medication (SAM) in an inpatient psychiatric rehabilitation setting in order to improve the MDT awareness and engagement with the process. The project also aims to improve the level of completion of the relevant SAM documentation in the department. METHODS: The medication prescriptions and self-administration charts (where present) for the patients on the ward were reviewed to identify errors or omissions in completion of the documentation. Thereafter a number of interventions were completed. This included informal education sessions and follow-up written correspondence to the relevant staff (via email and the ward handover book). The potential for SAM was additionally prompted at the weekly MDT meeting in order to identify additional suitable patients for the process. RESULTS: Three out of 18 inpatients were initially engaged to some degree with SAM at the start of the project. For the relevant patients involved, completion of attendance documentation and adherence to written instructions from 70% to 90%. Improvements in other aspects of the documentation were also observed. Following the prompted MDT discussions a further five patients were identified to commence SAM, who may otherwise have remained on traditional nurse-led medication administration. CONCLUSION: Engagement with SAM was initially variable and therefore was improved by targeted discussions and more MDT involvement. Documentation was identified as a potential pitfall and completion improved due to the interventions above. During the project a number of medication errors were incidentally highlighted and were reported via the DATIX tool. This demonstrates the importance of risk awareness associated with the SAM process in order to improve patient safety. There should be an MDT approach when considering patients for SAM process as this can affect discharge decisions. SAM could also be considered outwith the inpatient rehabilitation setting (e.g in General Adult Psychiatry wards). SAM is important in order to promote patient autonomy and independence in a safe manner. In the future it would be useful to explore patient attitudes towards medication self-administration in order to identify barriers to concordance.