Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions of staff towards psychotropic Pro Re Nata (PRN) medication in a residential care setting.
Design/methodology/approach
Three male and seven female participants were interviewed using a semi-structured interview. Transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis.
Findings
Four themes pertaining to PRN medication emerged from the data: behaviour change, calming effect, importance of timing and perceived uniqueness.
Research limitations/implications
The participant group was not homogenous and findings may have been different in a more qualified cohort. This care setting may not be representative of other environments where PRN medication is administered. The findings do, however, highlight some of the challenges facing the administration of PRN medication in mental health and care settings.
Practical implications
The awareness of these themes is significant for improving staff knowledge, training practices and policies towards the use and administration of psychotropic PRN medication.
Originality/value
This is the first study to engage in a thematic analysis of staff views towards the administration of PRN medication.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.