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Little Things Matter: A Time and Motion Study of Pharmacists' Activities in a Paediatric Hospital
Elin C Lehnbom1, Ling Li2, Mirela Prgomet2
1Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sydney, Sydney.
Insights
This study observed clinical pharmacists in a pediatric hospital, finding medication review was their primary task. This research provides crucial data on pediatric pharmacist workflow and time allocation.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacy Practice
- Pediatric Healthcare
- Health Services Research
Background:
- Healthcare provider time distribution impacts care quality and safety, extensively studied in adult settings.
- Paediatric healthcare provider workflows remain largely unquantified, despite unique patient needs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify the time allocation of clinical pharmacists in a paediatric hospital setting.
- To establish a baseline for evaluating workflow impacts of future healthcare innovations.
Main Methods:
- A direct observational time and motion study was employed.
- Two independent observers shadowed seven clinical pharmacists across eight wards for over 60 hours.
Main Results:
- Clinical pharmacists spent the majority of their time on medication review (32.6%).
- Other key activities included communication, non-clinical tasks, supply, medication discussion, and transit.
- Pharmacists experienced frequent interruptions (3.5 per hour) and engaged in multitasking (4.4% of observed time).
Conclusions:
- This is the first study to quantify paediatric clinical pharmacist time distribution.
- The findings offer essential baseline data for assessing the impact of interventions like electronic medication management systems on workflow.
Abstract:
How healthcare providers distribute their time can impact on the quality and safety of care delivered, and this has been widely studied in hospitals providing care to adult patients. Children are different to adults and the workflow of healthcare providers in paediatric settings is largely unknown. The aim of this study was to quantify how clinical pharmacists working in a paediatric hospital spend their time. A direct observational time and motion study was conducted where two independent observers shadowed seven pharmacists covering eight wards for over 60 hours. Pharmacists spent the majority of time performing medication review (32.6%), followed by communication, non-clinical tasks, supply, medication discussion and in-transit. They were interrupted 3.5 times per hour and spent 4.4% of observed time multi-tasking. This is the first study to quantify how pharmacists in a paediatric hospital distribute their time. These results could act as useful baseline data against which to measure the impact of innovations, such as electronic medication management systems, on pharmacists' workflow.
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