Direct observational time and motion study of the daily activities of hospital dispensary pharmacists and technicians.
Background: Hospital pharmacy dispensaries are busy work environments where staff are involved in a variety of work‐related tasks. The proportion of time spent on daily tasks, task prioritisation, multitasking, and interruptions remains largely unknown. Aim: To examine the tasks performed and propor...
| Publicado en: | Journal of Pharmacy Practice & Research Vol. 53; no. 2; pp. 64 - 73 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , |
| Formato: | CEU research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Publicado: |
Wiley-Blackwell
Apr2023
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=162971825&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 162971825 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 1445937X 6CKV jtl: Journal of Pharmacy Practice & Research issn: 1445937X maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Apr2023 vid: 53 iid: 2 pid: 480 pub: Wiley-Blackwell place: Malden, Massachusetts artinfo: ui: 162971825 161507442 162971825 162971825 10.1002/jppr.1852 162971825 ppf: 64 ppct: 9 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: C – @attributes: type: P tig: atl: Direct observational time and motion study of the daily activities of hospital dispensary pharmacists and technicians. aug: au: Magee, Katie Fromont, Molly Ihle, Eloise Cheung, Michael Percival, Mia Poole, Susan G. Bell, Chloe Theobald, Belinda Dooley, Michael J. Brown, Catherine affil: Pharmacy Department, Alfred Health, Melbourne, Australia sug: subj: Pharmacists Pharmacy Technicians Pharmacy Service Evaluation Time Factors Task Performance and Analysis Workflow Human Education, Continuing (Credit) Time and Motion Studies Observational Methods Discharge Planning Interprofessional Relations Descriptive Statistics ab: Background: Hospital pharmacy dispensaries are busy work environments where staff are involved in a variety of work‐related tasks. The proportion of time spent on daily tasks, task prioritisation, multitasking, and interruptions remains largely unknown. Aim: To examine the tasks performed and proportion of time pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in a hospital pharmacy inpatient dispensary spend on various work‐related activities. Method: Pharmacists and technicians working in the inpatient dispensary of a large metropolitan health service were directly observed by trained researchers. Tasks were recorded using Work Observation Method By Activity Timing (WOMBAT), a validated technique developed for direct observation studies of health professionals. Timed tasks were allocated to domains detailing the task performed, who performed it, who they interacted with, and where the task was performed. Data were analysed descriptively with independence of 95% confidence intervals (CI) demonstrating statistical significance. Results: Twelve pharmacists and 13 technicians were observed for 107.4 h. Tasks that contributed the greatest proportion of time were: the preparation of discharge prescriptions: pharmacists 32.1% (95% CI 29.9–34.3%) and technicians 21.0% (95% CI 18.3–23.7%); inpatient medication supply 22.5% (95% CI 21.5–23.5%) and 49.3% (95% CI 47.3–51.3%) and; inter‐professional communication 13.6% and 14.7% (non‐significant [NS]). Tasks were completed independently 89.6% (pharmacists) and 88.9% (technicians) of the time. Pharmacists and technicians were interrupted 6.7 and 5.1 times per hour (p < 0.05), respectively; 8.6% and 9.5% (NS) of the time was spent undertaking at least two tasks simultaneously. Conclusion: This is the first study to examine task time distribution within a hospital inpatient dispensary. Pharmacists and technicians spend the greatest proportion of time on direct medication dispensing‐related activities. This study demonstrates a high frequency of multitasking and interruptions, both of which are known risks for dispensing errors. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: CEU research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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