Practices of self-medication with antibiotics among nursing students of institute of nursing,Dow University of Health Sciences,Karachi,Pakistan

Self-medication practice among nursing students is of growing concern. access to drugs and handling them in their future practices make nursing students susceptible to self-prescription and self-medication. this cross sectional study assesses the prevalence and pattern of self-medication with antibiotics among nursing students of institute of nursing,dow university of health sciences,karachi,pakistan. a random sample of convenience of 160 nursing students underwent a predesigned questionnaire. more than half of nursing students 79 (52.7%) experienced self-medication with antibiotics. it was more prevalent among males 49 (62%). knowledge about the drug 59 (74.7%) and convenience 13 (16.5%) were the key reasons to self-medicate. fever 37 (46.8%) and sore throat 27 (34.2%) were the common symptoms predisposing to self-medication. beta-lactam group of antibiotics 35 (44.3%) was most frequent used. only 26 (32.9%) respondents completed the entire antibiotic course. efforts must be directed towards educating nursing students about responsible and informed self-medication practices. © 2016,pakistan medical association. all rights reserved.