The comprehensive treatment of persons who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia requires the application of an effective and tolerable pharmacologic treatment regimen in conjunction with psychosocial interventions. The mainstay of pharmacologic treatment of persons diagnosed with schizophrenia is antipsychotic medication. The most commonly prescribed are the atypical or second-generation antipsychotic medications that have efficacy that matches, or in many cases is superior to that of conventional antipsychotics. In practice, however, medication adherence, as much as medication efficacy, is the key to improving patient outcomes.J Am Psychiatr Nurses Assoc, 2007; 13(S5), S6.-S15. DOI:
10.1177/1078390307304078
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