Medication Safety: Experiential Learning for Pharmacy Students and Staff in a Hospital Setting

Medication Safety has been an established pharmacy specialty in Australian hospitals since the early 2000s and is now one of the ten Australian hospital accreditation standards. Although advances have occurred, medication-related patient harm has not been eradicated. Victorian undergraduate pharmacy programs include some aspects of medication safety, however clinical pharmacy experience, along with interpersonal and project management skills, are required to prepare pharmacists to be confident medication safety practitioners. This article outlines the range of medication safety-related training offered at an Australian tertiary teaching hospital, including; on-site tutorial for undergraduate students, experiential placement for pharmacy interns, orientation for pharmacy staff and resources for credentialing pharmacists for extended roles. Improvements continue to be made, such as electronic medication management systems, which increase the safe use of medications and facilitate patient care. Implementation and evaluation of these systems require medication safety expertise. Patients’ engaging in their own care is an acknowledged safety improvement strategy and is enhanced by pharmacist facilitation. Building educator skills and integrating experiential teaching with university curricula should ensure pharmacists have both the knowledge and experience early in their careers, in order to have a leading role in future medication management.