Psychotropic medication use among older adults: what all nurses need to know

Psychotropic medications are commonly administered to elderly clients to manage behavior and psychiatric symptoms. These drugs are known to have potentially serious side effects, to which older adults are more vulnerable. Nurses care for older adults in many different practice settings but have varying degrees of knowledge about these kinds of medications. The purposes of this article are to (a) provide information to geriatric nurses in all settings about how the most commonly prescribed psychotropic medications (i.e., anxiolytic, antidepressant, and antipsychotic drugs) differentially affect older adults; (b) examine recent concerns about the use of psychotropic medications with older adults; and (c) discuss nursing implications for those administering psychotropic medications to older adults.