Scientific Poster Session IV - Original Research

Original Research
  Tuesday, November 14, 2023
  08:30 AM–10:00 AM

Abstract

Introduction: Emergency department (ED) pharmacists at Nebraska Medicine utilize the electronic medical record (EMR) to document emergency response activities and post-discharge follow-up care. Emergency response i-vents (ERI) are utilized for documentation of emergency bedside response. A standardized documentation tool is used to document post-discharge culture follow-up phone calls.

Research Question or Hypothesis: How much time are ED pharmacists spending at emergency response activations and documenting post-discharge patient care?

Study Design: This retrospective cohort study includes all ERI opened and all culture follow up calls documented by ED pharmacists from February 1, 2022 through August 31, 2022.

Methods: The primary outcome of this study is a composite of all emergency response and culture follow up calls the ED pharmacists are documenting and the time associated with each. Secondary outcomes include the number of culture follow-up calls documented, number of emergency response activations pharmacists documented as attending, and time spent on each. Descriptive statistics were utilized for data analysis.

Results: Results were separated between two campuses: Nebraska Medical Center (NMC) and Bellevue Medical Center (BMC). At NMC, ED pharmacists documented response to 2,238 emergencies, averaging 19.8 minutes/activation and documented 653 culture follow up calls averaging 10.15 minutes/call. This accounts for 210.2 minutes/day spent at the bedside during emergency activations and 33 minutes/day spent on post-discharge patient care. At BMC, ED pharmacists documented response to 133 emergencies averaging 21.2 minutes/activation and documented 323 culture follow up calls averaging 9.8 minutes/call. This accounts for 13.3 minutes/day spent at the bedside during emergency activations and 14.8 minutes/day spent on post-discharge patient care.

Conclusion: Emergency response and post-discharge culture follow up account for a significant portion of an ED pharmacists’ daily activities. This study provides insight into the requirements of an ED pharmacist and may provide data to help justify staffing requirements.

Presenting Author

Olivia Collins PharmD
Nebraska Medicine

Authors

Krysta Baack PharmD, BCPS
Nebraska Medicine

Heather Nichols BS, RT
University of Nebraska Medical Center

Wesley Zeger DO
University of Nebraska Medical Center

Hannah Stonewall PharmD
Nebraska Medicine