Abstract:

The aim of the study was to identify the practices of self-administration of drugs practices among first year nursing students.

Material and methods:
A number of 89 first-year nursing school students voluntarily answered a questionnaire regarding self-medication. The data were processed using SPSS 17.

Results:
A total of 94.32% declared that they store drugs at home and 62.50% sustained that they keep drugs out of reach, in bags, private car or in the office etc. Almost 75% of them sustained that they use self-medication especially regarding analgesics for different kind of pain. A percent of 6,82% of students declared that they never buy drugs without prescription and a total of 19,32% said that they prefer go to the doctor rather than buying by himself some drugs. A total of 54,55% of students agree to the fact that TV publicity is not a guarantee for using drugs with no prescription. Results regarding the tendency to follow friends and family medical advices or to give medical advices to others are presented.

Conclusion:
Nursing students are showing in a high rate that they are responsible regarding the use of drugs. The majority of them use analgesics with no medical prescription. Further researchers should take into consideration the self-trust in administrating drugs among nursing students, taking into consideration their knowledge regarding medical treatment. University curricula should offer different topics in ethics and medical psychology in order to diminish the tendency of self-treatment.

Keywords:

Nursing students, self-administration of drugs.