PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - A Sinclair
AU  - C Eyre
AU  - H Petts
AU  - R Shuard
AU  - J Correa
AU  - A Guerin
TI  - Introduction of pharmacy technicians onto a busy oncology ward as part of the nursing team
AID  - 10.1136/ejhpharm-2016-000951
DP  - 2018 Mar 01
TA  - European Journal of Hospital Pharmacy
PG  - 92--95
VI  - 25
IP  - 2
4099  - http://ejhp.bmj.com/content/25/2/92.short
4100  - http://ejhp.bmj.com/content/25/2/92.full
SO  - Eur J Hosp Pharm2018 Mar 01; 25
AB  - A project was planned to explore the practicality of using pharmacy technicians to support the workload of nursing teams on a busy haematology oncology ward of 28 beds in a university acute care children's hospital of 300 beds. The question asked was, could pharmacy technicians be part of the nursing team to undertake what has traditionally been considered a nursing role? Three pharmacy technicians were trained and participated in the study. Assisting in the preparation and administration of 509 intravenous injections out of a possible 1123 (45%) of all intravenous injections prepared on the ward during the study period. The results indicated a reduction in adverse events of 1–2 a day during the study period, a reduction in work-related stress by nursing staff associated with preparing complex medication and releasing a nurse, 4 hours a day to enable them additional time to care for patients.