Lukman Nul Hakim Md Khairi, Farah Syakirah Ahmad, Nur Liyana Mohd Fozi, Aimi Shazana Muhammad Anuar, Wan Najiah W. Mokhtar @ W. Moxtor, Maznuraini Zainuddin
Bedside dispensing (BD) is one of the clinical services offered by the Pharmacy Department to patients prior to their hospital discharge. Increment in number of BD may improve the patients’ discharge process, patients’ satisfaction and their medication knowledge. This project aimed at increasing the percentage of BD in adult medical wards of Hospital Sultanah Nur Zahirah (HSNZ). The proposed standard of BD percentage was at least 30% within four months of intervention. The project was conducted from November 2016 to December 2019. The monthly report of pharmacy BD record was analysed to assess the achievement of BD. A pre-interventional retrospective BD data review of discharge prescriptions received throughout 2016 showed that only 8.1% of discharge prescriptions were dispensed at the bedside. A closed-ended questionnaire to evaluate knowledge, experience and perceived contributing factors to the low percentage of BD was distributed to nurses, inpatient pharmacists and ward pharmacists. The main contributing factors identified included time constraint, poor understanding of BD workflow, inadequate staff awareness and lack of cooperation among healthcare providers. Institutional BD workflow was implemented involving the introduction of discharge prescriptions pick-up points at medical wards, and a scheduled timing for prescriptions collection and dispensing during office hours. Three face-to-face educational sessions on overview of BD and its latest workflow were given to staff nurses, inpatient pharmacists at discharge pharmacy unit and ward pharmacists. In 2017, the percentage of BD increased from 8.1% to 28.0% after the implementation of interventions, and subsequently to 60.0% in the latest maintenance phase of January until December 2019. The sustainable implementation of this BD program could be shared and implemented at other facilities with inpatient discharge services to improve healthcare delivery.
Lukman Nul Hakim Md Khairi, Farah Syakirah Ahmad, Aimi Shazana Muhammad Anuar, Nurul Ain Wan Omar, Nurul Najmi Muhammad, Nurulhayati Abd. Jamal, et al.
Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is a valuable clinical tool in optimisation of drug regimens. However, improper utilisation of TDM may lead to significant resource wastage and expose patients to avoidable trauma, toxicity, therapeutic failure and prolonged hospitalisation. This study aimed to reduce the percentage of inappropriate TDM sampling to our proposed standard of less than 20% within a four-month intervention period. A cross-sectional study was undertaken from January to December 2015 at the inpatient setting of Hospital Sultanah Nur Zahirah. Gentamicin and Vancomycin analytes were studied because these analytes accounted for 69.2% of total samples received in 2014. TDM Monitoring Form was used to collect sampling and dosage information to assess sampling appropriateness. A closed-ended self-administered questionnaire was distributed to a group of medical doctors to assess their knowledge on appropriate Gentamicin and Vancomycin TDM sampling method pre- and post-intervention. Prior to the intervention phase in October to December 2014, 79.4% of TDM were inappropriately sampled. The main contributing factors were inadequate knowledge among medical doctors, lack of sampling reminders for new TDM requests, and misunderstanding on sampling information for repeated TDM requests. 60-minute face-to-face educational sessions on TDM sampling method were conducted specifically for staff at the General Medical and Paediatric Departments, and two continuing medical education (CME) slots were held at the hospital level. Guidelines on TDM sampling was initiated and laminated copies were distributed to all wards. Implementation of TDM Alert System which consisted of digital reminders and physical stickers was also introduced. The interventions were able to reduce the inappropriate sampling percentage from 79.4% to 41.8% post-intervention, and to 19.1% in the recent monitoring phase of January until June 2019. Continuous close monitoring and sustainable implementation of the measures are vital as TDM sampling appropriateness may affect clinical interpretation of the results.