PAW- March 2010 at VGH “Envision Tomorrow, Today”
PAW week was a success here at VIHA! We had three great presentations (see advertisement below) that really showcased some of the roles of pharmacists and technicians within VIHA. The turnout of staff was good, with nurses and physiotherapists attending. The booth had a lot of activity during the day and was a great tool to answer the questions that staff and patients have about pharmacy. The booth also had a PowerPoint showing new technology in both pharmacy and healthcare. Through the presentations, pharmacy staff volunteering at the booth and the PowerPoint the goals of PAW were achieved!
Goals:
1) Educate VIHA staff and general public on the current role of the pharmacist and the pharmacy technician
2) Discuss the evolving roles of both pharmacists and technicians and how these changes will impact the health care system in the future
3) Show the potential evolution of the drug distribution system and the benefits this would have to patients and staff
Administration Case Study:
We have been given a case study about a current administration issue within VIHA. We have some background information and now it is up to us to research some of the information we need to solve the issue and then ask for further information as a group. Currently, we are in the process of researching and coming up with our questions.
We have asked our research questions and have now come up with a solution for solving this administration case. As a group we decided to discuss some of the important funding issues, the need for structural upgrades to continue to provide pharmaceutical care in a safe environtment for staff and how the mission of the company we are dealing with is not being fulfilled. We hope that by discussing these key points and stressing that we would like to continue to provide a higher standard of care to this specific group of patients will encourage the company to work with our funding concerns.
Senior Management Meeting Oct 8, 2009:
Today I attended the senior management meeting where we discussed a number of issues concerning managers at this time. We talked about changes in privacy policy, STAR staffing concerns, H1N1 and accreditation. Today I learned that communication between the senior managers and staff is very important. Many of the issues arising are due to standards being unclear, for example the procedure for ordering certain high demand medications was unclear and this was causing concern to staff and managers. This theme is similar to the current chapter I just read about communication; in this chapter it highlighted that if staff are aware of why changes are occuring and the improtance of the changes in protocol they are more likely to adhere to them. I think that this meeting was a good opportunity to clarify concerns and then have the managers communicate the solutions to staff.
Meetings
April 7: During today’s meeting we discussed the last 2 chapters of the textbook. The first chapter focused on prospective versus retrospective analysis of patient safety issues (FMEA vs. RCA). The second chapter introduced how to start a patient safety project and the culture surrounding a study of this nature. We also talked about the concept of CPRN and Nurse practitioners dispensing medications in remote areas of BC. Some of the concerns about initiating this type of practice are the nurses access to pharmanet, the type of dispensing records that will be kept and the ability of nurses to order medications. We also talked about finances and budgeting in Pharmacy and how to balance a budget using cost sparing and revenue generating measures. Finally, we debriefed on PAW and discussed the feedback received about the event. We talked about some ways to improve PAW for next year and a few of the logistical concerns the residents had that could be changed (have a project week during PAW, make a PAW task force and involve staff in meetings earlier, have liaisons at each VIHA site etc.).
Feb 3rd: During today’s meeting we discussed chapters 9 & 10. These two chapters talked about the importance of reporting near misses and the structure for successful WalkRounds. In order to be successful staff must know why it is important to report near misses and understand if they report the system flaws before a large error occurs incidents can be prevented and patient safety can be improved before harm is done. The second chapter focused on WalkRounds and some of the key aspects for success such as: being in the staff’s environment (on the ward not in an office), avoiding meal times or medication administration times (staff are free to participate), having the staff aware it will occur so they can think of concerns ahead of time and follow up without empty promises (staff know it was worth their time and can see changes occurring).
Jan 6th: During today’s meeting we discussed chapters 7 & 8. These two chapters focused on establishing a culture of safety. The first chapter discussed how the percentage of errors that occur in a work place relates to the culture and perception of safety amongst the employees and that staff that rate themself as working in a safe climate have fewer errors. The second chapter focused on defining discipline for those who intentionally caused harm versus accountability and learning from the situation for those who caused unintentional harm.
Nov 4th: Today we discussed chapters 5 & 6 and the importance of open communication when medication errors occur. We also talked about our most recent meetings in regards to PAW and what assignments we are each working on to organize this event (need to write media summary, make advertisement for intranet and make PAW quiz). Finally, we got more information on our case study and need to determine our approach for a meeting with the agency we are working with.
Oct 7th: Today we discussed chapters 3 & 4 from our readings. Chapter 3 & 4 focused on effective communication and clinical systems. One of the key ways to communicate this chapter discussed was briefing. Currently at VGH I was exposed to a briefing strategy, they use briefing to talk about medication safety on a daily basis. This seems effective as medication safety issues are discussed openly and in a timely manner, issues that occur throughout the day are talked about as a group that afternoon and solutions are developed. Today we also gave Michele an update about PAW and started a case study!
Aug 12th: Today we were given a copy of the core and leadership competency expectations and now need to keep tract of the competencies we achieve through organizing PAW. We also discussed the first 2 chapters of our assigned readings from Achieving Safe and Reliable Healthcare ( introduction to errors in medicine and focusing on high reliability). We also were assigned an online course to complete about quality improvement through ihi.org.
July 15th: Today was our first administration rotation; we went over the objectives and expectations of the rotation. We did a brief overview of the organizational structure of VIHA and looked at some organizational charts. Finally, we were introduced to our administration role in Pharmacy Awareness Week – March 2010.
