Impact of Live Training on Medication Errors in a Community-Based Pharmacy Setting

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Practice
• Patient Safety
• Medication Error Reduction

Background:

• Community pharmacies are critical points for medication dispensing.
• Medication errors pose a significant risk to patient safety.
• Targeted training may improve medication error rates.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a live, interactive training session on medication errors in community pharmacies.
• To compare medication error rates before and after the educational intervention for pharmacists and technicians.

Main Methods:

• A pre-post intervention study design was used across 20 community pharmacies.
• A one-hour live, interactive training session focused on medication error mitigation and patient safety.
• Medication errors were tracked for six months pre- and post-training, with staff demographics and pharmacy volume recorded.

Main Results:

• A total of 135 errors were reported pre-training and 111 errors post-training (mean 6.85 vs. 5.55, p < 0.301).
• No statistically significant reduction in medication errors was observed across low, medium, or high-volume pharmacies.
• Sixty staff members (34 pharmacists, 26 technicians) attended the training.

Conclusions:

• The live training session did not significantly decrease community pharmacy medication errors.
• The training can serve as a component within a comprehensive medication safety program.
• Implementation in other pharmacy districts is recommended as part of patient safety initiatives.