Antipsychotics: Restraints for the Elderly? Good question…
The American Journal of Nursing printed a great article in their Viewpoint section from Marcia Lynn Weiser, RN, CLNC, soon to be MS at USF. She writes that “Nurses shouldn’t rely on these drugs for residents with dementia”. With black box warnings about early death and the multiple side effects of psychotropics, we have to re-think the care of the elderly and how we manage restless or agitated seniors with or without dementia diagnosis. She rightfully questions the ordering of antipsychotics as a means to manage these patients since it has been shown to be largely ineffective for dementia and are “associated with falls and fractures.” She correctly sites the nurse to patient ratios as a reason for the increase use of antipsychotics to “manage” the restless and agitated dementia patient. I see this as very true being that I know many nurses in the LTC arena who are constantly supporting this viewpoint. And who gets “written up” when a patient falls or hurts themselves?
There’s a later article in the AJN December 2008 “In the News” section where they offer good ideas to better help manage dementia patients that don’t require drugs. Really, the art of Nursing is just such in this over-medicated world. We can be more creative in our care than to drug people into submission. We are only cutting their lifespans and the quality of life. It is their Human Right to live without being enslaved by mind-altering, sensory depriving drugs. They have a right to life, to not be enslaved by chemical restraints. Nurses, let’s protect their Human Rights and question the use for our patients.