Walking a fine line: managing the tensions associated with medication non‐adherence in an acute inpatient psychiatric setting

Aims. The aim of this study was to use a phenomenological methodology to examine mental health nurses’ experiences of administering medications to patients who were non‐adherent in an acute inpatient service. Background. There is a large body of literature focused on exploring the issue of non‐adherence to prescribed medication, but there is very little examining this from mental health nurses’ perspectives. Many of the medications prescribed for patients diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder have serious side effects and limited efficacy. Mental health nurses in acute inpatient environments are regularly confronted with the difficulties inherent in the conflicting roles associated with the need to maintain therapeutic relationships and the expectation that they ensure patients take their medications. Design. This is a qualitative study exploring mental health nurses' descriptions of managing medication adherence in an acute inpatient unit. Methods. The interpretive phenomenological methodology of Van Manen (Researching Lived Experience: Human Science for an Action Sensitive Pedagogy, 1990) was used in this study to capture the experiences of a group of nurses. This research process involves a dynamic interplay between the following six research activities: (1) turning to the nature of the lived experience; (2) investigating the experience as we live it; (3) reflecting on essential themes; (4) a description of the phenomenon through the art of writing and rewriting; (5) maintaining a strong and oriented pedagogical relation to the phenomenon; and (6) balancing the research context by considering parts and whole. Results. Four themes emerged from the existential analysis that described the mental health nurses’ experiences: doing the job for doctors (relationality); stopping and listening (temporality); stepping in (corporeality); and walking a fine line (spatiality). Conclusions. It is proposed that models of therapeutic interventions offering alternative or conjunctive treatment to medications could be incorporated into acute inpatient care and provide an enhanced therapeutic model. Relevance to clinical practice. Nurses in many areas struggle to manage the tensions between a medical model and a nursing model of care. This study describes how one group of nurses manage these tensions and suggests a more patient‐centred model of care.