ORCID Profile
0000-0003-4582-9472
Current Organisation
Alfred Health
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Publisher: Wiley
Date: 28-01-2023
DOI: 10.1002/JPPR.1852
Abstract: 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 19-09-2019
Abstract: Important oncological management decisions rely on kidney function assessed by serum creatinine–based estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). However, no large-scale multicenter comparisons of methods to determine eGFR in patients with cancer are available. To compare the performance of formulas for eGFR based on routine clinical parameters and serum creatinine not calibrated with isotope dilution mass spectrometry, we studied 3620 patients with cancer and 166 without cancer who had their glomerular filtration rate (GFR) measured with an exogenous nuclear tracer at one of seven clinical centers. The mean measured GFR was 86 mL/min. Accuracy of all models was center dependent, reflecting intercenter variability of isotope dilution mass spectrometry–creatinine measurements. CamGFR was the most accurate model for eGFR (root-mean-squared error 17.3 mL/min) followed by the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration model (root-mean-squared error 18.2 mL/min).
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 19-08-2022
DOI: 10.1002/JPPR.1825
Abstract: There are few studies evaluating the workforce and the time allocated to tasks performed by clinical specialty pharmacists in Australia. The aim of this study was to quantify the time that clinical specialty pharmacists spend on various activities. A Work Observation Method by Activity Timing (WOMBAT) time and motion study was conducted at a tertiary‐referral metropolitan health service with comprehensive unit‐based clinical pharmacy services. Direct observations of clinical pharmacists were conducted by researchers during weekdays. Tasks and times observed were categorised into domains of ‘What, Who, How, and Where’, accounting for interruptions and multitasking. Eighteen clinical cardiology, respiratory, and geriatric pharmacists were observed over 171.2 h. The majority of time involved direct patient care activities (76.1% [95% confidence interval 72.6–79.6%]), including admission‐related (7.6%), discharge‐related (16.2%), and inpatient clinical tasks (52.5%). Activities were undertaken independently (55.9%) with doctors (26.2%), with nurses (10.5%), or with patients (9.6)% 19.1% of the pharmacist’s day involved multitasking. The tasks most frequently performed together were inpatient clinical activities, including rounding and daily medicine review. This study quantified the typical task allocation of clinical pharmacists in cardiology, respiratory, and geriatric units. It demonstrated that in a hospital setting supported by comprehensive operational pharmacy services, clinical pharmacists working in acute and subacute clinical specialities, predominately undertake direct patient care tasks that have been shown to improve patient safety.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-2021
DOI: 10.1002/JPPR.1709
No related grants have been discovered for Susan Poole.