What does patient safety mean to you as a pharmacist?
Patient safety and the Patient Safety Movement are hot new topics within healthcare, and this is especially true for pharmacists. Your interviewers need to be assured that you will join their program as a resident with a sharp focus on patient safety at all times.
"Patient safety is a really important and meaningful aspect of healthcare. In class, we've talked a lot about the Patient Safety Movement and watched several videos about preventable harm for patients. Every year, we recite "The Oath of the Pharmacist," and I think, as pharmacists, we are called to protect our patients, make the relief of suffering our primary concern, and hold ourselves and colleagues to a code of morals and ethics. We need to do everything in our power to keep our patients safe. The patient safety movement is about reducing errors made by the medical team, and I want to be conscious of both what my team and I are doing. I want to continue being aware and paying attention to everything going on around me, using my education to critically think about disease states and medication interactions. I believe this generation of pharmacists and healthcare providers can put a stop to unnecessary patient harm. I am really passionate about keeping patients safe, and I will work my hardest to do so for my entire career."
Each year, many patients die or are injured due to mistakes made by the healthcare team. Talk in some detail about the steps that pharmacists can take to ensure the safety and well-being of the patients that they work with. To ground your answer, discuss what you're going to do to prevent errors in your work as a resident with their program.