At the SCRPTS Lab, our primary research interests are focused on the occupational well-being of the health care professional—namely, the pharmacist. With our experiences as pharmacy technicians, student interns, and practitioners we are able to relate and conceptualize the struggles that these individuals face due to excessive demands in their work environment.

male pharmacist standing at open drawer of medications

Through Dr. Watterson’s coursework in Industrial and Systems Engineering, she gained knowledge regarding organization and job design, provision of quality health care and outcomes, and patient safety principles. Within the SCRPTS Lab, we surround ourselves with experts in pharmacy practice, fatigue, and health systems engineering to apply innovative and novel approaches to a profession we are extremely passionate about!

Dr. Watterson incorporated the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) framework into a conceptual model to understand how excessive demands in the work place (related to personal, organizational, and environmental factors, as well as required tasks and available tools/technology) impacted the pharmacist process and associated outcomes. In this model, outcomes are not just those of the employee (fatigue, burnout), but also those of the patient (medication errors), and organization (job turnover). She utilized this conceptual model to create an instrument and conducted the first survey aimed at describing occupational fatigue in pharmacists. (You can read more about that study here!)

Since then, Dr. Watterson conducted the first study to capture physiologic (objective) and subjective fatigue data in pharmacists. This area of research is impactful as fatigue has been shown in other health professionals incite negative patient outcomes—increased risk for errors and adverse events.

Within the SCRPTS Lab, our research aims to explore occupational fatigue in Illinois community pharmacists and technicians. Our goal is to develop, implement and evaluate systematic solutions to reduce and mitigate occupational fatigue in community pharmacies.

Too Burned Out for a Fatigue Discussion? Heading link

Taylor Watterson, Assistant Professor at UIC College of Pharmacy, presented to the UIC ISPOR and ISPE student chapters. Dr. Watterson discussed her pharmacy experience, human factors, and factors impacting community pharmacist occupational fatigue.