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

December 9, 2024 updated by: Vitaz

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

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.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

50

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • Belgium
    • Oost-Vlaanderen
      • Sint-Niklaas, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium, 9100

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria for observed medication dispensation moments

Control Period:

  • Medication dispensation moments must be performed by nurses during the nightshift. .
  • Nurses included must have at least six months of experience working night shifts.

Intervention Period:

  • Medication dispensation moments must be performed by PTAs.
  • PTAs included must have at least six months of experience specifically in medication dispensation tasks.

Exclusion Criteria: Hospital wards that introduced the involvement of PTAs less than six months ago.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: PTAs dispensing medications
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.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Time spent on medication dispensation on the hospital ward
Time Frame: Data collection was conducted over five days during the control period and five days during the intervention period on each of the included hospital wards.

Intervention Period:

Observing and recording the time the Pharmaceutical Technical Assistant (PTA) spends dispensing medication on the hospital ward.

This is followed by observing and recording the time the night nurse takes to complete the medication dispensation for the next day.

Control Period:

Observing and recording the time the night nurse spends dispensing medication for the next day without PTA involvement.
Data collection was conducted over five days during the control period and five days during the intervention period on each of the included hospital wards.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Dispensing errors
Time Frame: Data collection was conducted over five days during the control period and five days during the intervention period on each of the included hospital wards.

Intervention Period: Verifying the accuracy of medication dispensed by the PTA, including recording the number and type of errors identified.

Control Period: Verifying the accuracy of medication dispensed by the night nurse, including recording the number and type of errors identified.
Data collection was conducted over five days during the control period and five days during the intervention period on each of the included hospital wards.
Delayed and omitted medication doses
Time Frame: Data collection was conducted over five days during the control period and five days during the intervention period on each of the included hospital wards.

Intervention Period:

Reviewing the electronic medication system for the day the PTA prepared the medication. This includes recording the number of delayed or missed doses, the name and type of medication involved, and the reasons for the delay or non-administration.

Control Period:

Reviewing the electronic medication system for the day the night nurse dispensed the medication. This includes recording the number of delayed or missed doses, the name and type of medication involved, and the reasons for the delay or non-administration.
Data collection was conducted over five days during the control period and five days during the intervention period on each of the included hospital wards.
Reported Medication Errors
Time Frame: Data collection was conducted over five days during the control period and five days during the intervention period on each of the included hospital wards.
Collecting the reported medication errors from the hospital's incident reporting system during both the intervention and control periods.
Data collection was conducted over five days during the control period and five days during the intervention period on each of the included hospital wards.
Interdepartmental Communication Between Pharmacy and Hospital Ward
Time Frame: Data collection was conducted over five days during the control period and five days during the intervention period on each of the included hospital wards.
The exchange of information and updates between the pharmacy and the hospital ward to ensure accurate medication preparation, timely delivery, and proper administration. During both the intervention and control periods, this communication includes coordinating medication orders, addressing discrepancies, managing urgent requests, and providing guidance or clarifications as required.
Data collection was conducted over five days during the control period and five days during the intervention period on each of the included hospital wards.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Vitaz

Collaborators

University of Applied Sciences Utrecht
University of Antwerp, Belgium

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Tinne Dilles, Doctor, Professor, Universiteit Antwerpen

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

December 1, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

July 1, 2025

Study Completion (Estimated)

July 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 2, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 9, 2024

First Posted (Estimated)

December 12, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

December 12, 2024

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 9, 2024

Last Verified

December 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • EC24018

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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