World Patient Safety Day series

2024

To celebrate World Patient Safety Day 2024, AdPha proudly presents the 3rd annual series authored by the Medication Safety Leadership Committee. Edited by Linda Graudins, the theme of this year’s series is collaboration is key to Medication Safety and comprises seven articles, each authored by a member of the Leadership Committee:

  • Toni Howell (Chair, Vic) opens this year’s series with a moving article about how genuine collaboration with consumers will be one of the most thought-provoking, rewarding, enjoyable, and heartbreaking experiences in your medication safety career.
  • Linda Graudins (Editor, Vic) explores several key areas benefitting from collaboration between pharmacists and nursing staff for safer patient outcomes
  • Wendy Ewing (Vic) highlights collaboration across medical disciplines.
  • Nam-Anh Nguyen (WA) presents opportunities for medication safety arising from virtual collaborations.
  • Lisa Robertson (Tas) describes the ways effective collaboration with pharmacy technicians and assistants can support medication safety.
  • Claire FitzGerald (NSW) explains how collaboration with procurement teams supports medication safety, especially during times of medicine shortages.
  • Kerry Fitzsimons (WA) closes the series by discussing the critical importance of collaboration with governance units by mapping medication safety across all the NSQHS Standards.

2023

Released on World Patient Safety Day 2023 and edited by Linda Graudins, the second annual Medication Safety series is authored by SHPA’s Medication Safety Leadership Committee. Providing seven perspectives for early career pharmacists beginning their Medication Safety journey, the series contains:

  • Chris Giles (Qld) establishes effective communication skills as fundamental for enhancing safety and avoiding medication errors
  • Nam-Anh Nguyen (WA) highlights how understanding ‘why’ we do what we do helps embed systems that function well or present opportunities for sustainable change to ineffective systems
  • Lisa Robertson (Tas) cautions against jumping rapidly into change in response to medication errors and encourages interrogating solutions carefully to ensure they don’t introduce unintended risks
  • Toni Howell (Chair, Vic) encourages early career pharmacists to see themselves as agents of change, providing actionable advice for undertaking systems change in the workplace
  • Kerry Fitzsimons (WA) emphasises the importance of collaboration for developing a deep understanding of problems and ultimately, finding the most effective solutions
  • Wendy Ewing (Vic) highlights how essential proper documentation is and encourages early career pharmacists to embed documentation into workflow processes in the beginning of their careers
  • Linda Graudins (Editor, Vic) building on the importance of effective communication, Linda provides five practical tips for developing your written communication and presentation skills.

2022 

Released on World Patient Safety Day 2022 and authored by members of SHPA’s Medication Safety Leadership Committee, this special issue of the Medication Safety series provides seven angles on this central tenet of pharmacy practice, which is also Australia’s Tenth National Health Priority Area.

The World Patient Safety Day Series introduction, by Toni Howell and Linda Graudins

  • Bonnie Tai (Qld) provides a practical list of actions to help ensure medication safety gains of recent decades aren’t lost amid the mass burnout and resource reallocation forced by the pandemic;
  • Toni Howell (Chair, Vic) warns that despite increasing digitisation, the vast amount of information in healthcare remains free text with a high risk of ambiguity and misinterpretation;
  • Nam-Anh Nguyen (WA) highlights how the ‘why’ of taking medicine is just as important as the ‘what’, ‘when’ and ‘how’, increasing understanding and encouraging adherence;
  • Wendy Ewing (Vic) encourages the sharing of stories from patients, carers, and families to powerfully convey and embed medication safety messages;
  • Linda Graudins (Vic) explains how medication review and timely recognition of adverse medication reactions can reduce medication harm;
  • Kerry Fitzsimons (WA) urges consideration for the ‘second victims’ of medication errors, the health care providers who are involved and may become victimised or traumatised and can often feel personally responsible for the patient outcome; and
  • Chris Giles (Qld) emphasises why systems and process changes necessitated by COVID-19 must not erode the critical functions that underpin safe and effective medication management.

Developed by the SHPA Medication Safety Leadership Committee, this series provides timely and engaging content to inform readers and help support the safe delivery of care