[Pharmacy GRIT Article No: 20231381]

To begin, I’ll start with a note on terminology. In these articles, I use the term ‘technicians’, but I use this term to include Clinical Assistants and Pharmacy Assistants as our title varies state to state. I intend for this series, and the advice it contains, to be inclusive and relevant.

To open this Technicians and Assistants Research series, I will be doing some myth busting so you can see why research is absolutely for any technician who wants to give it ago. My own research journey began because I was trying to do my bit about sustainability in health services for future generations (for example reducing costs with medicines wastage by technician lead education sessions), and as a team leader I wanted to help promote technicians outside of the pharmacy profession via an international podcast and ABC radio. By doing this I hope to increase awareness of what pharmacy technicians do and advocate for more advanced roles. We know that pharmacists know how great we are, but outside of the pharmacy world, the role of pharmacy technician is not well understood. If they see us author a publication or hear us on the radio, then that can help build recognition outside of pharmacy, potentially leading to more advanced roles. I also wanted to give technicians the confidence to give research ago, because if I can do it, anyone can. Last, but not least, I wanted to help make sure our practices are always growing and keeping our patients safe.

Here are some common myths and comments and why we want anyone one who is interested in research to start on their research journey.

Myth 1: I am ONLY a tech so I cannot do research

Technicians are critical to the safe and effective running of our hospital pharmacies. Given the differences in our roles to those of our pharmacist colleagues, we bring unique and highly valuable perspectives to healthcare, including to research. Technicians often come from different career backgrounds that have skills that should be embraced within pharmacy. Embracing technicians’ views and skills stamps out the myth that we are just technicians and do not have the expertise to undertake research. So, when looking at a process, we are often able to see it from multiple angles such as, time management, efficiency, staff skillset, which may vary from a pharmacist perspective. It is when both parties work together and come together for common goals that the magic happens.

The importance of diverse, interdisciplinary health research teams has been well established.¹ The inclusion of diverse perspectives strengthens all aspects of the research process and should be embraced to ensure strong research outcomes, as well as the best possible medicine management for our patients.

To further dispel the myth, technicians maintain a research presence at AdPha’s annual Medicines Management conference. Technicians also maintain an active role in SHPA publications, contributing to MedsScan, as well as authoring articles² and a regular series^3–5 in Pharmacy GRIT and research published in the Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Research (JPPR).⁶

Myth 2: I do not have the skills to do research, nor the time

Everyone starts somewhere and building research skills through practical experience and developing your networks can help you along the way. Technicians possess a range of skills such as operational skills, management skills, clinical skills, inventory skills, educational skills, which all provide a solid foundation for building research capacity. While collaborating with colleagues allows you to contribute these skills to the research team, it also provides an opportunity to learn from others with more research experience.

Time, however, is a more limited resource. All of us working in hospital pharmacy understand there is never quite as much time as you’d like. We also can work under pressure at times which makes it exhausting to even think about completing a project.  Many pharmacy leaders are big believers in having a good work life balance, because we need to be well, so our patients are well too. Here are some ideas that may help with a positive work life balance if you choose to undertake a research journey:

• Establish clear expectations about time management and communication. Develop a mutual understanding of the time and development goals with all stakeholders. Working within a team will help break the workload down and save time as individuals. Once you have already established the time and expectations around communication and teamwork you could then utilise spare time during the workday.
• Don’t discount the importance of passion. Sometimes, working on something you are passionate about makes it easier to prioritise.
• Engage with resources such as this article series, the Research Toolkit, reading the latest issue of JPPR, and joining the Specialty Practice Research Interest Group can help you become more familiar with and prioritise research in your practice.  
• Start small by including technicians in clinical education session to support a foundation of learning and allowing technicians to be involved with progressive departmental and organisational change.
• Innovate with colleagues and being a part of policy and procedure authorship at your institution.

These steps can help develop your relationships with like-minded colleagues and carve out time in your workday to develop your interest in and capacity for undertaking research.  

With those common myths busted, how can you start your research journey?

Taking the first steps

Think about your pharmacy department. Think about the usual workflows and processes. What do you think could be done better, more efficiently, or more safely? Depending on your workplace, there might be an obvious place to start. A common complaint or issue that demands attention. Or, you might have to dig a little more deeply. Once you’ve identified your goals for optimisation, you’re on your way to developing your research problem. Also consider the people you would like to work with on this journey.

Projects could start from optimising medication returns, to implementing technicians checking, or preparing better medication cards, or taking medication histories. The opportunities for improving how we provide care are endless. But every time we make a change or introduce new processes or services, we should test if the solution is working to improve care. In a busy hospital with finite resources, we need to provide evidence for how we optimise medicine management, including dispensing, medicine storage, and supply. Research involves a sequence of steps that produces facts that prove the value of our work. Research can also help review our service and identify what tasks each technician level should focus on compared to others. Everyone knows we can’t do it all!

How to succeed?

I am not going to lie, undertaking research is challenging. It takes time, patience, and a good amount of ‘GRIT’, but if you work with a team of like-minded individuals with clear goals, then you are well placed for success.⁷ There are two sayings that come to mind; ‘if it’s worth the risk, take the fall’ and ‘you never fail, you only learn’. The most interesting and valuable research projects or ideas that I have been involved in have all been very challenging and had a high risk of failure. They were also all worth the time, commitment, and the risk as I learnt and grew from the experience.

In this three-part article series, I hope to engage that research spark within you, working alongside technicians from around Australia, with the support of the SHPA Technicians and Assistants Leadership Committee, alongside a team of Clinical Pharmacist researchers. We all hope to inspire you to start working on a project — doesn’t matter how big or small.

Homework

Your homework until the next blog is to think about something that you think can be done better in your workplace. How might this idea be tested in a small study? Think about who would be willing to investigate this with you (a team is always better than one person working alone). Some examples of projects have been completed with technicians include the technician checker role that was first brought to light in Australia by the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and Alfred Health. This paved the wave for checking roles within Australia. Medication wastage audits have been an ongoing project since 2016 at the Princess Alexandra Hospital as well as the development of the Technician lead counselling in Post operative care setting at STARS.

It does not have to be a big project, because as Kev Carmody and Paul Kelly say “from little things big things grow”…

Thanks for reading! In the next blog we will break research steps down and explain how to write a research plan on your idea. This will guide you to stay on topic.

If you’re keen to discuss your ideas with others, consider joining the Specialty Practice Technicians and Assistants Interest Group, the Research Interest Group, or the SHPA Technician Facebook page.

Acknowledgements

Dr Nazanin Falconer, Jane Dunsdon, Kate Ziser, Arna Lancashire, Karl Winckel, Leah Wirth, Caitlin Merz, Nicola Farrell, SHPA Technicians and Assistants Leadership Committee, The Princess Alexandra Hospital, Surgical Treatment and Rehabilitation Services Hospital (STARS).

References

1. Brazil K, Ozer E, Cloutier MM, Levine R, Stryer D. From theory to practice: improving the impact of health services research. BMC Health Serv Res 2005; 5: 1.
2. Tisdall J, Callaghan G, Ali R, Hall M, Winckel K. Nursing perspectives on technician-led education sessions in a tertiary hospital. Pharmacy GRIT 2021; Spring: 125–7.
3. Tisdall J, Nayfeh A, Hattersley L, Farrell C, Marler N, Allam L. Expanding training horizons, expanding practice: an Australian completes a UK technician checking course online. Pharmacy GRIT 2020; Winter: 120–2.
4. Birch F. Welcoming technicians on wards: expanded scope delivering real time savings. Pharmacy GRIT 2018; Summer: 264–5.
5. Dawson C. The first to say hellp: advanced scope assistant roles empowering patients and pharmacists. Pharmacy GRIT 2018; Spring: 178–9.
6. Anderson BJ, Taylor SE, Mitchell SM, Carroll ME, Verde A, Sepe D, et al. Evaluation of a novel advanced pharmacy technician role: discharge Medication Education Technician. J Pharm Prac Res 2021; 51: 396–405.
7. Helmer S, Blumenthal DB, Paschen K. What is meaningful research and how should we measure it? Scientometrics 2020; 125: 153–69.