Identifying and reducing distractions and interruptions in a pharmacy department

Raimbault, M.; Guérin, Aurélie; Caron, Elsa; Lebel, Denis; Bussières, Jean-François

doi:10.2146/ajhp120344

Cited by 9 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Interruptions to workflow are commonplace in distributive pharmacy settings, with one hospital study reporting nearly 15 interruptions per hour . Most research on workflow interruption in the pharmacy has appropriately focused on medication safety, though studies on the impact on pharmacy personnel are also needed.…”

Section: Contributing Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Addressing burnout in clinical pharmacy: What can we learn from other health care disciplines?

Haase

2019

J Am Coll Clin Pharm

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Burnout is a growing concern across health care disciplines. Burnout is a prolonged response to persistent work-related stressors and includes elements of exhaustion, depersonalization, and perceived ineffectiveness. The body of literature exploring the causes and consequences of burnout has grown substantially. Rates of burnout in clinical pharmacists are similar to those reported for other health care professionals.However, many aspects of burnout have not been adequately characterized in clinical pharmacists. This manuscript outlines key findings from the literature on burnout in other health care disciplines and establishes relevant connections to clinical pharmacy. Burnout has negative consequences related to personal well-being and is linked to stress-related health outcomes. Burnout is associated with increased job turnover, decreased productivity, and quality concerns, including both patient safety and satisfaction. A variety of factors contribute to the development of burnout, including provider characteristics, practice specialization, type and quantity of work expectations, work environment, social and organizational support, and reward. Interventions that focus on individual providers have been shown to modestly improve burnout. Interventions that emphasize organizational change may have a more significant impact, and several groups have outlined organization-focused strategies to improve well-being in the workplace. Such strategies include enhancing communication, promoting true collaboration and community, addressing staffing shortages, empowering employee decision-making, and developing and promoting institutional values. Best practices for improving well-being within an organization include a multidisciplinary, multimodal approach that is supported by both resources and leadership engagement. K E Y W O R D S job satisfaction, occupational stress, pharmacists/psychology, professional burnout

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Section: Contributing Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Addressing burnout in clinical pharmacy: What can we learn from other health care disciplines?

Haase

2019

J Am Coll Clin Pharm

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“…In a study on the sources of distracting stimuli and interruptions within the pharmacy department in the USA both pharmacists and pharmacy technicians were asked to give their insights. 36 In addition, an exploration of views of pharmacist's and pharmacy technicians in the USA on a revalidation process for pharmacy professionals was conducted, leading to the result that a single model is not desirable. 37 Other research has concentrated on stakeholder views of pharmacy activities which can/cannot be safely performed during the absence of a pharmacist.…”

Section: The Importance Of the Pharmacy Workforce To Work Togethermentioning

confidence: 99%

Documenting the evolution of the relationship between the pharmacy support workforce and pharmacists to support patient care

Koehler

Brown²

2017

Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy

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Since 2009 there has been a focus on the relationship between pharmacy technicians, pharmacy support workforce cadres and pharmacists in the literature. 2009–2011 saw a framework of role evolution develop, with publications from 2012 to 2015 documenting further maturity in the development of practice models for improved patient care and optimal use of personnel. The dominant narrative in the published academic literature has been made by certain high- income countries (mainly Canada, Denmark, United Kingdom and the United States of America). In these countries there are significant numbers of pharmacists available and there has been an increasing interest to utilize pharmacy support workforce cadres to allow the extension of clinical roles of pharmacists in these contexts. This is not a systematic presentation of all the literature available but rather a commentary overview supported by key papers. Key points from this literature include:The initial interest in this area resulted from a growing desire to increase the visibility of the pharmacist in line with the evolution of pharmacy practice, investigating how to move the pharmacist away from administrative roles and more towards clinical care. In this context the optimal use of other pharmacy cadres has gained momentum with numerous examples provided where pharmacists have been able to extend their clinical role with greater use of pharmacy technicians or other pharmacy support workforce cadres.As an expanded role for a variety of pharmacy support workforce cadres has developed, issues around education, regulation and registration have been discussed. As has the importance of clearly defining the role of both the pharmacist and other pharmacy cadres in specific practice settings. Where these partnerships have been developed successfully there has been detailed attention to change management and stakeholder engagement, with improved patient care as the focus. Significant guidance has been provided to aid implementation.In more recent years, pharmacy support workforce roles have expanded in some country practice settings, moving from administration and supply functions to independent checking of prescriptions by cadres and more recently to the management of patient adherence programs (e.g. United Kingdom, USA).With a continued focus on freeing up the pharmacist for expanding clinical roles, the most recent literature (USA), explores the need to further develop the leadership skills of the pharmacy support workforce.(To allow the reader to clearly understand the country of origin of the themes presented, care has been taken to note the country of origin of the papers used in this commentary).

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“…Challenges related to phone calls in the inpatient pharmacy setting may include interruptions, distractions, low accountability, poor efficiency, lack of optimal resources, and staffing. 5 An unequal distribution and lack of accountability may exist when answering phone calls for the inpatient pharmacy team, which may contribute to long hold times and call abandonment rates. Phone calls also may be directed inefficiently between clinical pharmacists (CPs) and pharmacy technicians.…”

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confidence: 99%

Implementation of an Automated Phone Call Distribution System in an Inpatient Pharmacy Setting

Ghassemi

2023

Federal Practitioner

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Background: Inpatient pharmacies receive numerous phone calls from health care professionals and patients. This uncaptured workload poses potential staffing concerns for pharmacy administrators as unequal distribution or misdirected calls to the pharmacy team can lead to accountability and patient safety concerns. We aimed to implement and evaluate the effectiveness of an automated call distribution (ACD) system in an inpatient pharmacy setting at a US Department of Veterans Affairs hospital. Observations: A new inpatient pharmacy service phone line extension was implemented at the Edward Hines, Jr. Veterans Affairs Hospital in Illinois. The ACD phone system yielded positive performance metrics, including ≤ 30 seconds mean speed to answer and ≤ 5% abandonment rate in the 12 months after implementation. Conclusions: The ACD phone system is a promising, new application of available technology implemented in a nontraditional setting. The ACD system provides more actionable information and quality metrics data to pharmacy leadership. The implementation of the ACD system has improved accountability, efficiency, work distribution, and the allocation of resources.

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Identifying and reducing distractions and interruptions in a pharmacy department

Cited by 9 publications

References 9 publications

Addressing burnout in clinical pharmacy: What can we learn from other health care disciplines?

Addressing burnout in clinical pharmacy: What can we learn from other health care disciplines?

Documenting the evolution of the relationship between the pharmacy support workforce and pharmacists to support patient care

Implementation of an Automated Phone Call Distribution System in an Inpatient Pharmacy Setting

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