The PBAR Protocol: Antipsychotic Medication Reduction in the Nursing Home (original) (raw)

Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) occur in almost all persons living with dementia. Antipsychotic medications are often prescribed inappropriately for persons living with dementia who experience NPS. Adverse side effects of antipsychotic medications include falls, sedation, cognitive dysfunction, prolonged QTc interval, extrapyramidal side effects, cerebrovascular events, metabolic changes, infection, and mortality. The purpose of this descriptive quality improvement project was to test the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of using the Psychiatric Background Assessment Recommendation (PBAR) Interprofessional Communication Tool (ICT). The PBAR-ICT was adapted from the Situation Background Assessment Recommendation (SBAR) Protocol by the Principal Investigator and was used to report critical NPS in the nursing home. After approval from the university institutional review board, an education program on identifying NPS was provided to the nursing staff. The education program focu...