Assessment of a pharmacist-run medication education group for inpatient psychiatric patients

The goal of this study was to assess the patient knowledge gained from the new pharmacist-run inpatient medication education group that was recently started on the inpatient psychiatry unit at the William S. Middleton VA Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin. The primary objective was to compare the scores from the modified Medication Understanding and Use Self-Efficacy Scale (MUSE) medication adherence tool and modified Frequency, Intensity, and Burden of Side Effects Ratings (FIBSER) medication side effects tool between patients who attended the new group versus patients who did not attend the group. The results for the MUSE and FIBSER scores for those who attended the medication education group were slightly lower than those who did not attend the group; however, none of the scores showed any statistical differences. The medication education group on the inpatient psychiatric unit at the William S. Middleton VA was developed to increase patients' knowledge about their medications and to increase patients' access to pharmacists.