NCT06731387

Assessing the Role of Pharmaceutical Technical Assistents in Hospital Wards: Measuring Efficiency and Medication Safety

Impact of Implementing Pharmaceutical Technical Assistants to Support the Medication Process in Hospital Wards: Effects on Operational Efficiency and Medication Safety

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 50 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Vitaz · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The goal of this interventional study is to evaluate the impact of implementing pharmaceutical technical assistants (PTAs) to support the medication process on hospital wards on operational efficiency and medication safety among nurses and pharmaceutical technicial assistants. The main questions it aims to answer are: * What is the effect of PTAs on the time spent by (night) nurses on medication dispensation? * How does their involvement influence unplanned interactions between nursing staff and the pharmacy? * What is the impact of PTAs on the safety of medication processes, including missed or delayed doses, accuracy of dispensed medication, and reported medication errors? Researchers will compare periods with and without the involvement of PTAs in the medication management process on the hospital ward to assess differences in: * Time spent on medication dispensation. * Frequency of unplanned interactions between hospital wards and the pharmacy. * Rates of missed or delayed medication doses. * Accuracy of dispensed medication compared to prescriptions. * Reported medication errors. During the observed medication dispensation processes, involved nurses and PTAs will: * Be observed while preparing medications to measure time and interruptions. * Provide data on medication errors and delays through digital systems and reports. * Complete a demographic questionnaire about their professional background. This study involves both intervention and control periods, allowing researchers to measure the specific effects of PTAs' involvement in medication processes.

Conditions

• Medication Safety
• Time Efficiency
• Interdepartmental Communication

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Pharmaceutical technical assistants supported medication dispensation on the hospital ward	Pharmaceutical technical assistants (PTAs) visit the hospital ward for two hours in the morning or afternoon to dispense medications for admitted patients for the following day. Night nurses then complete any final additions or adjustments as needed.

Timeline

• Start date: 2024-12-01
• Primary completion: 2025-07-01
• Completion: 2025-07-01
• First posted: 2024-12-12
• Last updated: 2024-12-12

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Belgium