Effect of pharmacists on medication errors in an emergency department

Abstract

The rate of medication errors in the ED decreased significantly when pharmacists prospectively reviewed ED medication orders.

Medication Reconciliation by a Pharmacist in the Emergency Department: A Pilot Project

“…In that study, a retrospective comparison of medical records for a control group (no pharmacist present in the emergency department) and an intervention group (pharmacist present in the emergency department to review orders) showed a 66% reduction in medication errors when the pharmacist was present. 19 In the current study, the main purpose of having the pharmacist in the Emergency Department was to complete medication histories and perform reconciliation; however, the pharmacist was also able to answer drug information questions, clarify poorly written orders, suggest alternatives to nonformulary medications, and identify unknown medications brought in by patients. As a result of this pilot project, a permanent pharmacist position has been created for the Emergency Department.…”

Personality Traits of Hospital Pharmacists: Toward a Better Understanding of Factors Influencing Pharmacy Practice Change

“…30,31 This drive to perfection in job performance may also be intuited from the proliferation of pharmacy research papers examining numbers of medication errors in various settings, so that they can be minimized. [32][33][34] Openness, the third trait with a relatively strong difference in response frequencies, is characterized by originality, ingenuity, curiosity, and an artistic orientation. 13 Within work settings, people who exhibit this trait also tend to be drawn to artistic or investigative types of work.…”

Detection of prescription errors by a unit-based clinical pharmacist in a nephrology ward

“…One way to achieve true change and overcome the barriers would be to perform studies that can demonstrate how a pharmacist could produce better clinical and economic outcomes to patient care. Numerous studies have found that pharmacists can improve patient safety and outcomes [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. However, no study has been performed in Iran, because clinical pharmacy is a new profession and at the moment, only a few clinical pharmacists are practicing in this country.…”