Mental Health Nurses’ Perceptions of Providing Pharmaceutical Care in Saudi Arabia

Purpose: To investigate caring roles in nurse pharmaceutical care and to offer an initial report of psychiatric/mental health nurses’ experiences of psychiatric pharmaceutical care. Methods This study used a qualitative exploratory focus group discussion with nine experienced psychiatric nurses. Inductive data were gathered using open-ended probes and theoretical sampling and were analyzed to yield themes and subthemes. Results Principal themes and subthemes emerged from the data analyzed. These themes illuminated nurses’ experiences with respect to the use of pharmaceutical medication in the mental health setting, including ​(i) nurses’ responsibilities for psychiatric pharmaceutical medications, (ii) experiences in multi-disciplinary teams, (iii) nurses’ knowledge and education regarding medication, and (iv) barriers faced by psychiatric nurses during practice. Conclusion Nurses involved in pharmaceutical care need additional training, interprofessional collaboration, and clearly codified parameters to guide their professional practice in this aspect of care. Working with medication is an important role of mental health nurses. However, little attention has focused on these nurses’ perspectives on where the responsibility lies for preparing nurses for safe, competent medication management of their patients.