Promotion of the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale in a Psychiatric Hospital

Abstract

Background: Antipsychotic medications are associated with the incidence of tardive dyskinesia and the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS) is tool used to assess for the condition. A needs assessment indicated that in a psychiatric hospital, overall compliance with conducting the AIMS in patients who were admitted on antipsychotic medications was only 16%. Moreover, none of those assessment were done by registered nurses despite being responsible to do so per company policy. Objective: The purpose of this study was to increase the number of AIMS completed by registered nurses on patient who are admitted on antipsychotic medications. Design: A quantitative study was completed to (1) increase knowledge pertaining to the AIMS through education; and (2) increase the number of AIMS completed by registered nurses. Setting: Inpatient psychiatric hospital in Central Arizona, August 21, 2018 to October 3, 2018. Participants: 18 registered nurses participated in two educational forums. Measurements: Pre-tests and post-tests were distributed during the education forms to determine the registered nurses’ understanding of the material and the results were collected and evaluated in Excel and SPSS to conduct a two-tailed paired t-test. Retrospective chart reviews were count the number of AIMS completed by registered nurses after the interventions. Results: Registered nurses’ participation in assessing newly admitted patient who were prescribed antipsychotic medications increased from 0% to 35%. Conclusion: The implemented strategies proved to be effective. However, additional strategies to further increase compliance were identified.