| Description |
The purpose of this study was to explore the difference in drug usages of post-partum patients under two different methods of drug administration in the hospital setting. The two methods studied were self-medication and traditional nurse-administration. The study was concerned largely with assessing the use of potentially harmful medication such as analgesies and sedatives. Normal mothers were the subjects; the number studied was 100 women. The study was conducted on a post-partum unit where self-medication was widely employed. Data collection for the group receiving nurse-administered medication was done by patient chart review and ward records kept at the time that this method of drug administration was used. Data collection for the group on self-medication was done in patient chart review, ward records, and by counting unused medications. Information was recorded on a standardized form. Drug use by type and dose was assessed for the labor and delivery period, recovery period, and a three-day post-partum period. Variables relative to age, parity, type of anesthesia employed, time of labor, position of the infant at delivery, sex of the baby, method of infant feeding, status of the perineum following delivery, and type of physician giving care were compared in the two groups. One way analysis of variance and correlation of all variables were achieved utilizing a Univac computer at the University of Utah Computer Center. It was shown that the differences between the groups were no greater than the differences within the groups in variables unrelated to drug usage. The one exception was a statistically significant difference in the hours of hospitalization between the two groups. The mothers administering their own medication were found to take significantly more analgesics, but fewer sedatives than mothers who requested this medication from the nurse. Statistically significant correlations were found between variables related to drug usage and minutes in labor, hour of hospitalization, and age. Speculations about the findings are discussed |
