SHPA members highlight the importance of medication safety for early career pharmacists

Medication safety has been highlighted again as the World Health Organization (WHO) marked its annual World Patient Safety Day on Sunday 17 September 2023. With a theme ‘Engaging patients for patient safety’, SHPA’s Medication Safety Leadership Committee marked the day by releasing its second annual Medication Safety series. 

Authored by the Committee members, this series provides seven perspectives for early career pharmacists who are beginning their medication safety journeys. 

Toni Howell, SHPA Medication Safety Leadership Committee Chair, says the compilation focuses on a range of positive habits in pharmacy practice that should be embedded from a pharmacist’s earliest career stages. 

‘Medication safety is a central tenet of pharmacy practice. This year, our series continues to advocate for the importance of pharmacy practice that contributes to improved medication safety. 

‘Within the articles, our Committee’s members cover skills that are fundamental for enhancing safety and avoiding medication errors, including the importance of effective communication, collaboration and proper documentation. 

‘Furthermore, the series also probes into how early career pharmacists can interact with existing workplace systems to promote medication safety, with actionable advice on how to undertake systems change in the workplace. 

In the series, freely available online: 

• 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.