Audit of telephone usage in a centralized intravenous admixture area

An audit of telephone usage in an intravenous admixture area was performed. Over a two-day period (18 hours total) 252 calls were made or received. The average length of a call was 81 seconds. Surgery and medicine nursing units accounted for the majority of the cells. Missing orders or doses were the most frequent topic of calls. Telephone communication may require a large time commitment from pharmacists and prevent them from performing activities which are more easily documentable, such as compounding intravenous admixtures.