Event Title
Faculty Mentor
Barbara Messina
Major/Area of Research
Nursing
Description
Abstract The administration of anxiety drugs is associated with a superfluity of side effects (National Institutes of Mental Health, 2016). The use of comfort rooms have been shown to be an effective means to reduce anxiety in hospitalized non-psychotic psychiatric patients thus reducing the need for pro re nata (prn) medication administration (Steward, Robson, Chaplin, Quirk & Bowers, 2012). A comfort room is a designated space designed to provide a calming environment and are furnished with items that are physically comfortable as well as pleasing to the senses in order to provide a refuge that is stress free (New York State Department of Mental Health, 2009). The hypothesis is non-psychotic psychiatric patients exhibiting anxiety according to BAI measuring anxiety scale who utilize comfort room will have a decrease in the use of prn medications as opposed to non-psychotic psychiatric patients exhibiting anxiety symptoms on the BAI scale who do not utilize comfort room and are experiencing symptoms of anxiety. The Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) (Beck, Epsten, Brown & Steer, 1988) will be used to measure anxiety before and after the patients use the comfort room. BAI inventory scores as well as the total number of prn medications administered to reduce anxiety will be counted for each of the participants 24 hours prior to initiation of the study in order to provide a baseline for comparison. One week after the implementation of the comfort room the total number of prn medications administered to reduce anxiety will be compared to baseline.
Included in
Comfort Room
Abstract The administration of anxiety drugs is associated with a superfluity of side effects (National Institutes of Mental Health, 2016). The use of comfort rooms have been shown to be an effective means to reduce anxiety in hospitalized non-psychotic psychiatric patients thus reducing the need for pro re nata (prn) medication administration (Steward, Robson, Chaplin, Quirk & Bowers, 2012). A comfort room is a designated space designed to provide a calming environment and are furnished with items that are physically comfortable as well as pleasing to the senses in order to provide a refuge that is stress free (New York State Department of Mental Health, 2009). The hypothesis is non-psychotic psychiatric patients exhibiting anxiety according to BAI measuring anxiety scale who utilize comfort room will have a decrease in the use of prn medications as opposed to non-psychotic psychiatric patients exhibiting anxiety symptoms on the BAI scale who do not utilize comfort room and are experiencing symptoms of anxiety. The Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) (Beck, Epsten, Brown & Steer, 1988) will be used to measure anxiety before and after the patients use the comfort room. BAI inventory scores as well as the total number of prn medications administered to reduce anxiety will be counted for each of the participants 24 hours prior to initiation of the study in order to provide a baseline for comparison. One week after the implementation of the comfort room the total number of prn medications administered to reduce anxiety will be compared to baseline.