The relationship between mental healthcare users' medication adherence and the nursing presence of registered nurses in primary healthcare

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between mental healthcare users’ (MHCU) medication adherence and the nursing presence of registered nurses in primary healthcare. The overall aim of the study was to describe the medication adherence of MHCUs at primary healthcare clinics in an urban health district, to describe the nursing presence of registered nurses at primary healthcare clinics in an urban health district, and to determine if there is a relationship between MHCUs’ medication adherence and the nursing presence of registered nurses at primary healthcare clinics in an urban health district. This research study used a quantitative, non-experimental, descriptive correlational and crosssectional design. The sample included MHCUs in an urban health district in the Gauteng province of South Africa, (n =180). Data were collected using the Medication Adherence Rating Scale (MARS) and the Presence of Nursing Scale (PONS) questionnaires. The relationship between the study variables (nursing presence of registered nurses and selfreported medication adherence of MHCUs) was determined by calculating correlational coefficients (r), t-tests and analysis of variance (ANOVA) as statistical techniques. The analysis of the responses showed that there was a strong positive correlation between PONS and MARS as shown by the positive value of the correlation coefficient of .685 with a corresponding sig-value of 0.000, which is less than the level of significance 0.01. Since the pvalue (0.000) was less than 0.01, the influence was significant. This implies that MHCUs with positive perceptions on PONS were also likely to report higher levels of adherence to their medication. Based on these results, the hypothesis that there is a relationship between MHCUs’ medication adherence and the nursing presence of registered nurses working in primary healthcare clinics in an urban health district was supported. Recommendations for nursing practice, nursing education, nursing research and policy development were made.