Pharmacist distraction during dispensing — extent and sources

Face-to-face consumer inquiries, phone calls and out-of-scope questions from staff are the main sources of distraction pharmacists face during the dispensing process, a scoping review by Monash University researchers has found. Undertaking a comprehensive search of relevant databases, the researchers identified 51 studies to include in their review, which sought to understand, in pharmacy settings, the extent and main sources of distraction during the dispensing process. As to extent, the review reveals that pharmacists experience interruptions and distractions at varying rates, but that instances could be as high as 20 times per hour. Such disruptions, the review reveals, primarily impact the dispensing process, pharmacists’ workload, performance, wellbeing and patient wait times.

“Dispensing medicines is an integral service provided by pharmacists and is a professional competency that combines specialised knowledge, functional and behavioural skills, and clinical judgment,” Associate Professor Dan Malone, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (FPPS) Undergraduate Pharmacy Course Director at Monash and the study’s corresponding author, said. Through their review, the authors observed that the studies included did not provide a coherent picture of specific types of interruptions and distractions, nor their impact, frequency or the intervention strategies implemented or proposed — the researchers suggesting that each type of interruption and distraction should be more comprehensively examined by future studies.

A lack of intervention initiatives to address the issue of distraction was also identified in the study. Of the interventions there were identified, there were three main categories: limiting direct access to pharmacists during dispensing, altering workflow processes and adjusting the physical environment. On this, Malone noted that, while it was encouraging to see inclusion of intervention tactics in some studies, there remained a strong need for education programs. Such programs would, Malone said, better prepare pharmacy students for the types of interruptions they will experience when they enter the workforce. “As the custodians of medicine safety, educating future pharmacists on how to manage interruptions and distractions during the dispensing process can play a critical role in mitigating risk of errors.”

Meaza Ayanaw, a pharmacist and the lead author of the review, is also working to remedy the issue from a pedagogical perspective; completing a PhD with FPPS that, using a dispensing simulation, seeks to generate data on the impact of distractions and interruptions on clinical decision-making ability and task prioritisation of pharmacy students. Concerning impact, Ayanaw said: “Our hope is that one of the main outcomes from our combined research initiatives in this space will be to better understand how key elements of pharmacy practice are influenced by interruptions and distractions and, as such, what we can do to help prepare students for the real world.”

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‘How do interruptions and distractions affect pharmacy practice? A scoping review of their impact and interventions in dispensing’, the 2025 scoping review has been published open access in Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy and you can read it at doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2025.05.001.

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