Week 36

Welcome back to our topic on communication with other healthcare professionals. This session is brief but just as significant as our previous ones.

Me ruku ki te kaupapa. Let’s jump right in!

Communication

In our last session, we discussed the importance of effective communication for collaboration between health professionals in the pharmacy workplace. We know this is essential for ensuring optimal patient care, preventing medication errors, and promoting positive health outcomes.

You also wrote a journal post titled 'Collaboration' about the consequences of ineffective collaboration between a pharmacy technician and other healthcare professionals. Let’s recap these consequences.

Consequences for ineffective collaboration - for patients

• Delayed or incorrect treatment due to miscommunication and poor collaboration between healthcare providers.
• Increased risk of medical errors, adverse drug reactions, or complications.
• Reduced trust and satisfaction with healthcare services, decreasing patient engagement and treatment plan adherence.
• Potentially compromised patient safety and quality of care.
• Inconvenience and additional expenses incurred from needing to travel to different healthcare facilities or locations to access services where communication and collaboration are more effective.

Consequences for ineffective collaboration - for healthcare professionals

• Heightened stress levels and job dissatisfaction stemming from misunderstandings, conflicting instructions, or lack of support.
• Hindered career advancement opportunities and a negative work environment.
• Decreased efficiency and productivity due to time wasted clarifying communication breakdowns or resolving conflicts.
• Damaged professional relationships and teamwork, hindering effective collaboration and interdisciplinary care.
• Potential legal and ethical implications resulting from errors or omissions caused by communication failures.

Barriers to communication

We have previously identified the skills, techniques and behaviours that support effective communication and collaboration, but what is it that gets in the way of clear, accurate and effective communication?

You may have already started thinking about barriers to communication in our last session. Now, jot down a few barriers that you can think of, and then select the (+) symbol to compare your ideas.

As a pharmacy technician, you will be supporting patients at important moments in their lives. They may have recently been diagnosed with a medical condition, be seeking support about a health condition or picking up their regular prescription. They may be confused, stressed, or even excited. Your professionalism, compassion, tact and ability to support them are central to being a great pharmacy technician.

Part of this also involves working confidently and collaboratively with other healthcare professionals to provide a high level of care.

This week's self-directed learning activity will require you to step back and consider these communication skills objectively.

That’s a wrap! This week's session of Professional Practice 2 is now complete. In our next session, we look at the different communication channels pharmacy technicians use in their daily work. Mā te wā, see you later.

Nau mai hoki mai, welcome back to Dispensing 2, where we continue learning about non-aseptic compounding. Me tīmata tātou! Let’s get started!

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

The New Zealand Health and Disability Service Pharmacy Standards give guidance on the practices and procedures for compounding. They note that pharmacies should have Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for these practices and procedures. The SOPs ensure that staff are qualified and that equipment, materials, and premises are used appropriately according to the requirements of each preparation or product. 

Staff need to be trained and competent in all aspects of compounding, including:

1. Equipment
2. Personal hygiene
3. Work areas

Let’s explore each of these.

Equipment

All equipment used for non-aseptic compounding needs to be clean as opposed to sterile. So, what does that actually mean?

Key points

• Equipment and utensils should be designed and constructed to be suitable for their purpose and easy to clean to prevent contamination of products. 
• Equipment should not be used for any purpose other than preparing and dispensing medicines. 
• Weighing scales, measuring equipment, and utensils should be appropriate and adequate to carry out compounding - this means using the correct tools for the job!
• Measuring and weighing equipment should be calibrated and checked regularly to ensure they are giving accurate readings. 
• Utensils and glassware should be regularly checked for damage.
• All methods of equipment checking should be systematic, and records should be kept, ensuring products are safe and of acceptable and consistent quality.
• Equipment should be stored carefully and correctly to avoid damage.

Equipment for compounding

Typical equipment used in non-aseptic compounding includes:

• Spatulas
• Glass slab/ointment slab
• Mortar and pestle
• Glass stirring rod
• Stamped glass conical measure
• Graduated cylinders
• Weighing scales
• Weighing paper
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
• Packaging materials.

Personal hygiene

At this point in your programme, you should be confident carrying out the personal hygiene practices and procedures required in the pharmacy workplace, understanding the reason behind each action. Your workplace will have SOPs for the different procedures carried out in the dispensary, including non-aseptic compounding.

Key points

• The pharmacy manager should ensure that procedures related to health, hygiene practices and clothing are established.
• Each staff member should understand and practise these procedures. Special attention should be accorded to hand hygiene.
• In general, any unhygienic practice (including eating, drinking, chewing and smoking, or the storage of food, drink, smoking materials and personal medication) should not occur in the dispensing, compounding and pharmaceutical storage areas of the pharmacy.
• Staff members with an infectious disease, open skin lesion on exposed surfaces of the body or a condition that would present abnormal microbiological hazards to products should not be involved in compounding and dispensing or have direct contact with pharmaceuticals until the condition is remedied.

Work areas

Earlier in your programme, we discussed the pharmacy work area, focusing on hygiene and the arrangement of the space. In essence, the layout and setup of the works area for non-aseptic compounding should aim to reduce the chances of errors, contamination, and cross-contamination.

Now that we've tackled how equipment, personal hygiene, and work areas contribute to successful compounding, let's explore the physical materials that are required to start compounding.

Starting materials

These raw ingredients or components are used to prepare compounded medications or products. They do not include any packaging material.

Starting materials may include:

1. Active pharmaceutical ingredients.
2. Excipients, which can encompass various substances such as fillers, binders, lubricants, preservatives, flavourings, colourants, and solvents.

Starting materials must be inspected thoroughly to ensure they are safe and of acceptable quality. Pharmacies will have SOPs outlining this quality assurance process along with proper documentation.

Water

Water is a common starting ingredient used in non-aseptic compounding as a dilutant or solvent. Let's briefly look at the following scenario.

You are such a good teacher (go you!) that your manager asks you to, once again, demonstrate and explain a compounding technique to a colleague. The colleague watches as you fill a graduated cylinder with water from the tap. They ask, “Is it safe to use water from the tap? Don’t we have to use special water, you know, like distilled or purified water?”

Do you know the answer to this question? Take a moment to think about how you would respond before clicking on the (+) symbol.

Ka mutu pea, you're doing awesome. You've officially completed this week. Ka pai.