Administration of oral medication by parents at home

Aims and objective The objective of this study was to determine parents' experiences and problems with administering medication to their children at home. Background Parents' experiences and access to information for the treatment of their children's illnesses at home is necessary for their children's safety. Design A descriptive cross‐sectional study. Methods Four hundred parents from children's hospital outpatient clinics were included. A questionnaire was used to determine parents' experiences and problems with administering medication to their children at home. Descriptive statistical analyses were performed using the spss software package (version 22.00). Results Antipyretics (59%) and antibiotics (25%) were the most commonly used medicines by parents without prescription. Nearly half of the parents stated that they gave liquid medicine with a household spoon. It was found that 54% of the parents whose children refused to take tablets or liquid medicine mixed these medications into foods. Treatment was delayed in 20·7% of the children who refused to take tablets and in 29·1% of the children who refused to take liquid medicine. As a result of the project, a form and device were developed as a solution to the problems experienced by parents while administering oral medication in the home environment. Conclusion The results of the study showed that a significant percentage of the parents did not use the correct equipment to administer medications, used non‐prescription medicines, did not administer medications at correct intervals and mixed medication into foods. Relevance to clinical practice Healthcare professionals, especially nurses, should continually evaluate medication administration by parents at home and the readmission rate in the emergency department to further improve children's health.