Staff Education to Improve Psychiatric Nurses’ Use of Evidence-Based Strategies for Supporting Medication Adherence in Outpatient Settings

Psychiatric medication nonadherence remains a persistent barrier to effective outpatient mental health care and contributes to relapse, rehospitalization, and disrupted continuity of care. In outpatient psychiatric settings, nurses are often responsible for patient education and follow-up, yet many lack formal training in evidence-based strategies to support medication adherence. This staff education project was implemented at an outpatient psychiatric facility to address this practice gap. The practice-focused question asked whether a structured staff education intervention would improve outpatient psychiatric nurses’ knowledge of evidence-based medication adherence strategies. Twelve outpatient psychiatric nurses participated in a one-hour educational session focused on motivational interviewing, psychoeducation, shared decision-making, communication strategies, and identification of common adherence barriers. A pretest and posttest design was used to evaluate outcomes. Knowledge change was analyzed using a paired sample t test conducted with IBM SPSS Statistics. Results demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in knowledge, with mean scores increasing from 58% pre-intervention to 92% post-intervention. The primary product of this project was a structured staff education module with supporting training materials. Findings suggest that targeted nurse-led education can strengthen nursing practice by improving consistency and preparedness in supporting medication adherence. This approach has implications for promoting equitable, patient-centered care across diverse outpatient psychiatric populations and supporting positive social change through improved continuity of mental health treatment.