Customer Concern

We have had customers ask how they can best support their staff during these particularly challenging times with regard to the administration of medicines. Many Managers/ senior staff are conscious of the fact that their staff are under intense pressure at the moment, and this may impact the way they administer medicines.

Whilst regular and consistent accredited medicines training is essential for staff who administer medicines (see our suggested Training Pathway below), there is another side to support that is often overlooked.

The Importance of Staff Wellbeing

Staff wellbeing during the pandemic and beyond is incredibly important for ensuring you have a team that can manage and administer medicines confidently, competently, and safely to the people you support.

Anxiety, stress and tiredness can all negatively impact the way medicines are handled within your organisation and must be identified within the workforce to be able to properly support staff within their role.

The OPUS Solution: Communication

When staff are busy, stressed and generally overwhelmed, it can be hard to find the time to sit down and check in with your team. Equally, staff may be unwilling to share anything that is burdening them meaning that issues are unlikely to be identified and may never be properly resolved.

We have developed materials for use within your care organisation to open up the conversation between Managers and staff to:

1) Identify any areas of issue or concern, whether personal or professional;

2) Promote collaborative working to determine actions to resolve identified issues;

3) Ultimately reduce medicines errors by clearly identifying areas of risk within the organisation.

Remember- this process is a 2-way street: Managers must be open to listening for staff to be willing to share.