Interdisciplinary medication decision making by pharmacists in pediatric hospital settings: An ethnographic study

Abstract

Pharmacists made a substantial and highly valued contribution to pediatric inter-professional medication decision making. These results provide new knowledge that informs theoretical developments of pharmacists' role in decision making.

Facilitators and barriers for performing comprehensive medication reviews and follow-up by multiprofessional teams in older hospitalised patients

“…These survey studies report that physicians and nurses generally are satisfied with the collaboration with the pharmacists and that an increase in the quality and safety of the patients' medication treatment is perceived. The few available studies with a more in-depth qualitative approach conclude that pharmacists can contribute with their pharmaceutical competences and add value to the ward team, but that organisational problems, such as an improper defined role of the pharmacist and limited availability of pharmacist resources, pose challenges to the implementation of multiprofessional interventions [20][21][22][23][24]. One of these studies explored the working relationships of physicians, nurses and ward-based pharmacists in a rural hospital in northern Sweden after the introduction of a clinical pharmacy service including CMRs [24].…”

Quality pharmaceutical care in the neonatal intensive care unit: identification of essential pharmacy services and key performance indicators for the Australian setting

“…The role of the clinical pharmacist has evolved to comprise cognitive roles in patient care, medication management and hospital quality improvement . When considering the Australian context, overall clinical pharmacy has been shown to be well‐established in wards such as the NICU, paediatric care and palliative care, and pharmacists are found to be highly involved in the pharmacotherapy decision‐making process . As such, the pharmacist's influence over care can have a significant effect on the quality of patient outcomes.…”

Effects of an electronic medication management system on pharmacists’ work in a paediatric hospital

“…A review of pharmacist interventions in a paediatric intensive care unit over an 11‐year period showed that pharmacists identified and corrected nearly 6000 order entry errors . A recent ethnographic study of pharmacists in an Australian paediatric hospital revealed that pharmacists provided critical input to medication decision making, including off‐label use of medications, medication administration issues and patient monitoring …”

“…1 A recent ethnographic study of pharmacists in an Australian paediatric hospital revealed that pharmacists provided critical input to medication decision making, including off-label use of medications, medication administration issues and patient monitoring. 2 Paper-based medication charts in Australian hospitals are increasingly being superseded by electronic medication management systems (EMMS) to facilitate safe and efficient medication use. There is now good evidence to show that EMMS can reduce medication errors, improve order accuracy and completeness and improve timely access to medication information.…”