Abstract
By means of questionnaire and interview, this study was conducted to clarify the experience and attitudes of nurses to induration caused by intramuscular injection of drugs used in the psychiatric field. The results indicated that many nurses had experience of patients with induration and were aware of the inconvenience it caused and the anxiety felt by the patients. The characteristics of induration differed according to the pharmaceutical modality employed, and induration caused by particularly long-acting injections was massive and serious. Nurses were found to treat induration in various ways, but no definitive approach had become established or accepted. Many nurses felt that their method of care did not significantly ameliorate induration to any degree, and that sympathy and concern were all they could offer their patients. They felt that they were unable to offer effective care. However, they nevertheless continued to employ standard methods for prevention and care of induration.
