Introduction of pharmacy technicians onto a busy oncology ward as part of the nursing team.

A project was planned to explore the practicality of using pharmacy technicians to support the workload of nursing teams on a busy haematology oncology ward of 28 beds in a university acute care children's hospital of 300 beds. The question asked was, could pharmacy technicians be part of the nursing team to undertake what has traditionally been considered a nursing role? Three pharmacy technicians were trained and participated in the study. Assisting in the preparation and administration of 509 intravenous injections out of a possible 1123 (45%) of all intravenous injections prepared on the ward during the study period. The results indicated a reduction in adverse events of 1-2 a day during the study period, a reduction in work-related stress by nursing staff associated with preparing complex medication and releasing a nurse, 4 hours a day to enable them additional time to care for patients.