The impact of patient point-of-view pharmacy delivery on labor and quality.

A 37-bed surgical unit in a Midwestern Medical Center was the site of 30 day trials of three methods of medication delivery: (a) traditional medication cart, (b) patient point-of-view (PPOV1) delivery of regularly ordered medication by a pharmacy technician to the nurse server once a day, and (c) patient point-of-view (PPOV2) delivery of all medications (including stats and i.v.s) to the nurse server hourly between 0700 and 2300 hours. The purpose of this trial was to determine the effects of two alternative pharmacy delivery strategies on labor costs, use of professional nurses' time, and ten quality indicators related to medication administration.