Staff Education to Improve Antipsychotic Medication Adherence

This staff educational project addressed a gap in practice involving minimal nursing intervention to support antipsychotic medication adherence. Antipsychotic medication nonadherence results in undermanaged schizophrenia, which is associated with relapse psychotic episodes, suicidality, and violence. Therefore, the project’s purpose was to educate the providers on long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotic medication to facilitate the use of the medications to address antipsychotic medication nonadherence. Eight providers were involved in the educational intervention and were educated on the LAI antipsychotic treatment intervention through an interactive educational session. Knowledge surveys were administered before and after the educational intervention. The collected data were analyzed using the Statistical Package of Social Sciences, Version 28 program. The project outcomes revealed an improvement in participants’ knowledge of LAI antipsychotic medication. The participants’ average pre-intervention knowledge level was 77.71 (SD = 3.40), and their average post intervention score was 93.01 (SD = 3.96). The difference was statistically significant (p < .001). The outcomes supported a staff education intervention on LAI antipsychotics that was impactful in improving the knowledge needed by providers to implement the LAI antipsychotic medication intervention to address antipsychotic nonadherence. The above intervention is likely to promote positive social change by reducing the healthcare burden associated with antipsychotic medication nonadherence through improving medication adherence, promoting access to care, and enhancing outcomes for all patients with antipsychotic prescriptions, fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion in healthcare delivery.