The Use of Psychotropic Medication in Hospital Settings Research Paper

The Use of Psychotropic Medication in Hospital Settings - Research Paper ExampleFrom the training it was evident that the factor which was strongly associated with f tout ensemble was medication. Other fortune factors determined by the study were level of activity, age of the patient,confusion, depression, history of fall in the past. staff vigilance and number of inpatients in the ward. According to Blair and Gruman (p. 353), it is very important for the staff of the hospital to know that happen assessment for travel in hoary patients mustiness be continuous be former the status of risk can change quickly, especially if the patient is on almost psychotropic medication. They opined that a fall prevention program must be present in all hospitals admitting elderly patients and nurses and other staff must be educated about st lay outgies to prevent falls in that population. Another important aspect of medication is the inappropriate dosing of psychotropic medication which can increase the risk of falls. This aspect was studied by Peterson et al (p.802). The researchers studied the association between appropriateness of psychotropic medication and in-hospital fall rate. From the study, it was evident that inappropriate dosing of psychotropic medication is strongly associated with falls. As such, psychotropic medications are associated with several(prenominal) position effects including falls leading to hip fractures, over sedation and delirium. Geriatric patients who are under attack(predicate) may suffer from various injuries disproportionate to the fall when on psychotropic agents because these medications are used frequently, unwilling the rate of metabolism and decrease physiologic reserve (Peterson, p.803). According to a meta-analysis by Leipzig et al (cited in Riefkohl, p.726), psychotropic drugs are strongly associated with falls. The data for... From this paper it is clear that several medicines have been attributed to cause falls in the elde rly population. In this regard, psychotropic medicines which are frequently administered for older people for various psychiatic and cognitive problems are studied widely and are known to increase the risk of falls. Medicines, especially psychotropic ones, cause orthostatic hypotension, confusion, oversedation, delirium, dizziness, cognitive changes and psychomotor impairment and thus contribute to falls. Other medications which can increase the risk of falls are diuretics, antihypertensives and cardiovascular medicines. In this research article, the association between use of psychotropic medications and falls in elderly people admitted to hospital settings will be studied through review of fitted literature.As the discussion highlightsinappropriate dosing of psychotropic medication is strongly associated with falls. As such, psychotropic medications are associated with several side effects including falls leading to hip fractures, over sedation and delirium. Geriatric patients wh o are vulnerable may suffer from various injuries disproportionate to the fall when on psychotropic agents because these medications are used frequently, slow the rate of metabolism and decrease physiologic reserve.Falls are a major source of concern among elderly patients admitted to hospital. Several risk factors are present which can be assessed using risk assessment scales.