Beyond technology – nurse/pharmacist collaboration for patient safety

Advanceweb.com via SafetyNurse on Twitter: “Pharmacists and nurses are essential professionals entrusted with medication safety. However, the medication delivery and other resources provided by pharmacy are not always well received by nursing, and vice versa. Nurses complain medications are not delivered on time. Gurses and Carayon (2007) noted that delays in getting medications from pharmacy as one of the most common nursing performance obstacles. Pharmacists complain they never received the order. Many blame today’s technology while others clamor for more advanced modes of medication delivery. Recently, studies have suggested computerized prescriber order entry can lead to new types of errors, especially during the early phase of technology deployment and dissemination. Technological advancements are not enough to ensure patients’ medication safety; collaboration between nurses and pharmacists is critical.” - I can tell you from years of experience that nursing and pharmacy frequently have issues and continuously play the “blame game.” I can also tell you that a good working relationship between pharmacy and nursing is key to successful patient care. I spent five years in a critical care satellite working closely with nursing. The more time I spent in the unit, the better my working relationship with nursing became. Trust developed and patient care was improved. While it is clear that technology is a tool that can improve patient safety, a solid nursing/pharmacy relationship is necessary to make it successful.