Medication interventions for African-American adults: Practice-based evidence from two nurse-led clinics

Area of Science:

• Community Health Nursing
• Chronic Disease Management
• Health Disparities

Background:

• African-American adults face significant health disparities, particularly with chronic diseases.
• Medication management is a critical component of chronic disease care.
• Nurse-led community nursing centers (CNCs) offer accessible healthcare services.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe and examine the impact of medication intervention practices in two nurse-led CNCs.
• To assess changes in knowledge, behavior, and status related to medication regimens among African-American clients.
• To evaluate the utility of the Omaha System for assessing nursing interventions in community settings.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective-descriptive study design.
• Analysis of Omaha System data from 196 African-American adults with chronic diseases attending CNCs.
• Focus on visits where medication regimen was a primary problem.

Main Results:

• A total of 9,259 medication regimen interventions were documented across 1,146 client visits.
• Statistically significant improvements were observed in medication knowledge (p < .01).
• While not statistically significant, medication behavior and status showed positive trends.

Conclusions:

• The community nursing center model effectively enhances medication knowledge for African-American clients.
• The Omaha System is a valuable tool for evaluating nursing interventions in community health settings.
• Targeted medication interventions in CNCs can positively impact patient understanding of their treatment plans.