The Impact of Job Instruction Training Within Pharmacy

Purpose: To provide pharmacy leaders and clinicians with the basic principles of a training method called job instruction (JI) and its application within pharmacy as a strategy to teach routine pharmacy work. Summary: Job instruction is a reliable way to teach a person to quickly learn how to perform a work standard correctly, safely, and efficiently. Job instruction is a proven and successful technique for improving time to train, productivity, employee turnover and quality of work. In healthcare, JI training is not well-known or widely utilized. Job Instruction was the strategy of choice to stabilize the variable training practices within The University of Kansas Health System pharmacy enterprise, and a prospective, single center, multi-cohort study was conducted to study its impact. Conclusion: The preliminary results of this study provide initial insight into the applicability of job instruction in pharmacy. The study indicated the benefits of JI training within different teams to standardize training practices, decrease error and safety event rates, and increase satisfaction of team members with on-the-job training. The results of this study will be used to further analyze and optimize training practices in The University of Kansas Health System pharmacy enterprise.