Time and motion study for pharmacists' activities in a geriatric hospital

Objectives This study aimed to identify and quantify activities undertaken by pharmacists in a geriatric hospital. Methods A data collection form was developed, validated and tested for applicability and practicality. Pharmacist activities were organised into three categories: Clinical, Administration and Others. Clinical activities incorporated patient discharge, patient admission, checking the ward controlled drugs record book, emergency trolley and patient medication trolley, prescription monitoring, ward round, discussion with health care professionals, and other professional activities; Administration activities included checking the ward medication stock and medication order; Others included break and inactive time. Observers conducted 6000 min of direct observation using a time and motion technique and observed the work activities of three pharmacists on three wards. Data were analysed using Microsoft Excel 2007 and SPSS version 16.0. Descriptive statistics were carried out. Key findings The time dedicated to Clinical activities was 3636 min (60.60%), Administration activities 1646 min (27.43%) and Others 718 min (11.97%). When considering total time in minutes for Clinical and Administration activities, ward round (1348 min), medication order (1255 min), patient discharge (723 min) and prescription monitoring (562 min) occupied most of the pharmacists' time. Ward round activities were subdivided into: patient profiling (545 min), actual ward round (668 min) and conference (135 min). Conclusions The time and motion study indicated that the pharmacists' time is mainly allocated to clinical activities. However, there is still a large proportion of time taken up by administrative activities, which can be conducted by non‐pharmacist personnel, allowing more time to be directed to patient care.