Little things matter: a time and motion study of pharmacists' activities in a paediatric hospital

Elin C. Lehnbom; Ling Li; Mirela Prgomet; Wing Y. Lam; Johanna I. Westbrook

doi:10.3233/978-1-61499-666-8-80

Little things matter: a time and motion study of pharmacists' activities in a paediatric hospital

Elin C. Lehnbom^*, Ling Li, Mirela Prgomet, Wing Y. Lam, Johanna I. Westbrook

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference proceeding contribution › peer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

622 Downloads (Pure)

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.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Digital Health Innovation for Consumers, Clinicians, Connectivity and Community - Selected Papers from the 24th Australian National Health Informatics Conference, HIC 2016
Editors	Andrew Georgiou, Louise K. Schaper, Sue Whetton
Place of Publication	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Publisher	IOS Press
Pages	80-86
Number of pages	7
Volume	227
ISBN (Electronic)	9781614996668
ISBN (Print)	9781614996651
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3233/978-1-61499-666-8-80
Publication status	Published - 2016
Event	24th Australian National Health Informatics Conference, HIC 2016 - Melbourne, Australia Duration: 25 Jul 2016 → 27 Jul 2016

Publication series

Name	Studies in Health Technology and Informatics
Volume	227
ISSN (Print)	09269630
ISSN (Electronic)	18798365

Other

Other	24th Australian National Health Informatics Conference, HIC 2016
Country/Territory	Australia
City	Melbourne
Period	25/07/16 → 27/07/16

Bibliographical note

Copyright the Author(s) and IOS Press 2016. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

Access to Document

10.3233/978-1-61499-666-8-80

Publisher version (open access)Final published version, 444 KBLicence: CC BY-NC

Cite this

Lehnbom, E. C., Li, L., Prgomet, M., Lam, W. Y., & Westbrook, J. I. (2016). Little things matter: a time and motion study of pharmacists' activities in a paediatric hospital . In A. Georgiou, L. K. Schaper, & S. Whetton (Eds.), Digital Health Innovation for Consumers, Clinicians, Connectivity and Community - Selected Papers from the 24th Australian National Health Informatics Conference, HIC 2016 (Vol. 227, pp. 80-86). (Studies in Health Technology and Informatics; Vol. 227). IOS Press. https://doi.org/10.3233/978-1-61499-666-8-80

Lehnbom, Elin C. ; Li, Ling ; Prgomet, Mirela et al. / Little things matter : a time and motion study of pharmacists' activities in a paediatric hospital . Digital Health Innovation for Consumers, Clinicians, Connectivity and Community - Selected Papers from the 24th Australian National Health Informatics Conference, HIC 2016. editor / Andrew Georgiou ; Louise K. Schaper ; Sue Whetton. Vol. 227 Amsterdam, Netherlands : IOS Press, 2016. pp. 80-86 (Studies in Health Technology and Informatics).

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author = "Lehnbom, {Elin C.} and Ling Li and Mirela Prgomet and Lam, {Wing Y.} and Westbrook, {Johanna I.}",

note = "Copyright the Author(s) and IOS Press 2016. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.; 24th Australian National Health Informatics Conference, HIC 2016 ; Conference date: 25-07-2016 Through 27-07-2016",

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Lehnbom, EC, Li, L , Prgomet, M, Lam, WY & Westbrook, JI 2016, Little things matter: a time and motion study of pharmacists' activities in a paediatric hospital . in A Georgiou, LK Schaper & S Whetton (eds), Digital Health Innovation for Consumers, Clinicians, Connectivity and Community - Selected Papers from the 24th Australian National Health Informatics Conference, HIC 2016. vol. 227, Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, vol. 227, IOS Press, Amsterdam, Netherlands, pp. 80-86, 24th Australian National Health Informatics Conference, HIC 2016, Melbourne, Australia, 25/07/16. https://doi.org/10.3233/978-1-61499-666-8-80

Little things matter: a time and motion study of pharmacists' activities in a paediatric hospital . / Lehnbom, Elin C.; Li, Ling ; Prgomet, Mirela et al.
Digital Health Innovation for Consumers, Clinicians, Connectivity and Community - Selected Papers from the 24th Australian National Health Informatics Conference, HIC 2016. ed. / Andrew Georgiou; Louise K. Schaper; Sue Whetton. Vol. 227 Amsterdam, Netherlands: IOS Press, 2016. p. 80-86 (Studies in Health Technology and Informatics; Vol. 227).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference proceeding contribution › peer-review

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AU - Lam, Wing Y.

AU - Westbrook, Johanna I.

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Lehnbom EC, Li L , Prgomet M, Lam WY, Westbrook JI. Little things matter: a time and motion study of pharmacists' activities in a paediatric hospital . In Georgiou A, Schaper LK, Whetton S, editors, Digital Health Innovation for Consumers, Clinicians, Connectivity and Community - Selected Papers from the 24th Australian National Health Informatics Conference, HIC 2016. Vol. 227. Amsterdam, Netherlands: IOS Press. 2016. p. 80-86. (Studies in Health Technology and Informatics). doi: 10.3233/978-1-61499-666-8-80

Little things matter: a time and motion study of pharmacists' activities in a paediatric hospital

Abstract

Publication series

Other

Bibliographical note

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Creating safe, effective systems of care: the translational challenge

Cite this

Little things matter: a time and motion study of pharmacists' activities in a paediatric hospital

Abstract

Publication series

Other

Bibliographical note

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Projects

Creating safe, effective systems of care: the translational challenge

Cite this