Ann F. Cook, PhD,Helena Hoas, PhD, and Jamie Kennedy, PharmD.
"R.Ph's Take on Patient Safety: They're Caught in the Middle, Drug Topics, July 25, 2005.
This article explores two common communication problems among healthcare providers: (1) a lack of shared definitions of errors; and (2) lack of shared agreement as to the role and scope of the pharmacist's work. These issues may help explain why a vast majority of participating pharmacists (84%) indicated that certain types of errors keep recurring. Most pharmacists report that they want to receive information about patient safety such as summaries of error events (100%), or changes in procedures (96%). Pharmacists also want to explore how sharing experiences among all healthcare professions may facilitate the transition from recognition of problems to discussion and meaningful action.