Table 2 Task time distribution overall and by emergency department during periods with and without pharmacists present

Total observed time (TOT)

138 h 21 min 05 s

160 h 34 min 45 s

52 h 59 min 43 s

51 h 21 min 36 s

43 h 45 min 48 s

62 h 09 min 42 s

41 h 35 min 34 s

47 h 3 min 27 s

% of TOT

95% CI

% of TOT

95% CI

% of TOT

95% CI

% of TOT

95% CI

% of TOT

95% CI

% of TOT

95% CI

% of TOT

95% CI

% of TOT

95% CI

Non-medication-related

62.7

(59.5–66.0)

63.0

(58.9–66.3)

61.8

(56.9–67.1)

67.2

(63.3–72.6)

66.6

(61.4–72.1)

68.5

(61.4–76.2)

59.9

(54.7–65.6)

50.9

(46.9–55.7)

Patient examination/treatment

19.3

(17.4–21.1)

21.3

(18.9–23.8)

15.5

(12.5–18.8)

13.3

(10.7–15.8)

30.2

(26.4–34.5)

34.1

(28.9–40.0)

12.9

(10.0-16.1)

13.0

(10.4–15.7)

Oral communication

18.1

(16.9–19.3)

18.8

(17.6–20.1)

18.9

(17.2–20.9)

20.1

(19.3–23.1)

13.6

(11.8–15.4)

15.4

(13.5–17.6)

21.9

(19.5–25.1)

20.8

(18.3–24.1)

Logistics

13.2

(11.6–15.3)

11.7

(10.3–13.6)

12.6

(10.0–16.0)

16.1

(13.8–19.0)

11.8

(9.1–14.7)

10.4

(7.6–13.8)

15.4

(12.0-19.3)

8.7

(6.5–11.6)

Reading/retrieving written information

3.6

(3.0-4.3)

2.6

(2.2–3.1)

5.4

(4.0-7.1)

3.9

(3.2–4.6)

2.6

(1.9–3.5)

1.4

(1.0–2.0)

2.3

(1.6–3.2)

2.7

(1.8-4.0)

Waiting/consideration

3.7

(3.1–4.3)

2.5

(2.1–2.9)

4.8

(3.9-6.0)

4.0

(3.1–4.9)

2.8

(1.9–4.1)

1.4

(1.0-1.9)

3.2

(2.2–4.4)

2.3

(1.7–3.1)

Documentation

4.0

(3.5–4.6)

4.5

(3.8–5.1)

4.6

(3.7–5.8)

7.4

(6.0–9.0)

4.5

(3.6–5.5)

2.6

(1.9–3.4)

2.6

(2.2–3.4)

3.7

(3.0-4.5)

Meeting

1.2

(0.5–2.3)

1.5

(0.7–2.7)

1.0

(0.0-3.2)

0.5

(0.0-1.4)

2.4

(0.9–4.6)

2.6

(0.8–5.8)

0.4

(0.0-0.9)

0.9

(0.1–2.2)

Confidential

1.8

(0.9–2.9)

0.9

(0.3–1.9)

0.3

(0.1–0.6)

2.7

(0.9–5.8)

3.3

(1.3–6.3)

0.0

2.1

(0.4-5.0)

0.0

Other

0.1

(0.1–0.2)

0.8

(0.2–2.8)

0.2

(0.1–0.4)

0.3

(0.1–0.5)

0.0

1.7

(0.1–5.6)

0.2

(0.1–0.3)

0.2

(0.1–0.4)

Medication-related

3.3

(2.8–3.8)

4.2

(3.4–4.9)

3.0

(2.2–3.9)

4.4

(3.5–5.5)

3.1

(2.3-4.0)

3.8

(2.9–4.8)

3.9

(3.0–5.0)

4.3

(2.8–6.3)

Oral communication

 About medications

0.9

(0.7–1.1)

0.8

(0.7–1.1)

0.8

(0.6–1.2)

0.8

(0.6–1.1)

0.9

(0.6–1.4)

0.8

(0.5–1.3)

1.0

(0.7–1.5)

0.9

(0.6–1.4)

 Retrieve information

0.4

(0.3–0.5)

0.2

(0.2–0.3)

0.3

(0.2–0.5)

0.5

(0.4–0.7)

0.4

(0.2–0.6)

0.1

(0.1–0.2)

0.3

(0.2–0.6)

0.1

(0.0-0.2)

 Give information

0.3

(0.2–0.5)

0.1

(0.1–0.2)

0.4

(0.1–0.9)

0.1

(0.0-0.3)

0.4

(0.1–0.8)

0.2

(0.1–0.3)

0.2

(0.1–0.4)

0.0

(0.0-0.1)

Medication Management

 Preparation/administration (with patients)

0.5

(0.3–0.7)

0.8

(0.5–1.2)

0.4

(0.2–0.6)

0.9

(0.5–1.6)

0.7

(0.4–1.2)

1.2

(0.6-2.0)

0.4

(0.2–0.8)

0.1

(0.0-0.2)

 Preparation (without patient)

0.7

(0.4–1.1)

0.4

(0.2–0.6)

0.6

(0.2–1.4)

0.7

(0.3–1.3)

0.6

(0.2–1.3)

0.3

(0.1–0.6)

0.8

(0.3–1.5)

0.0

(0.0-0.1)

 Double control

0.2

(0.1–0.3)

0.3

(0.2–0.5)

0.2

(0.0-0.6)

0.6

(0.3–1.1)

0.2

(0.1–0.4)

0.4

(0.1–0.6)

0.1

(0.0-0.3)

0.0

Logistics

0.3

(0.2–0.5)

1.4

(0.9-2.0)

0.3

(0.1–0.6)

0.4

(0.1–0.9)

0.0

0.8

(0.4–1.4)

0.8

(0.3–1.4)

3.1

(1.7–5.1)

Reading/retrieving written information

0.0

(0.0-0.1)

0.0

(0.0-0.1)

0.1

(0.0-0.1)

0.1

(0.0-0.2)

0.0

(0.0–0.0)

0.0

(0.0–0.0)

0.0

0.0

(0.0–0.0)

Documentation

0.1

(0.1–0.2)

0.1

(0.1–0.2)

0.1

(0.0-0.2)

0.3

(0.2–0.4)

0.1

(0.0-0.2)

0.1

(0.0-0.1)

0.2

(0.1–0.4)

0.0

(0.0-0.1)

Standby and movement

34.7

(30.6–39.1)

33.5

(30.0-37.5)

35.8

(28.4–45.1)

28.8

(23.5–34.6)

31.5

(24.5–38.9)

28.7

(23.7–34.4)

36.6

(29.9–44.2)

45.1

(35.4–56.0)

Standby

29.4

(25.0-34.1)

28.6

(24.7–33.3)

30.3

(22.4–40.2)

23.4

(18.7–29.1)

26.2

(19.8–33.7)

23.7

(18.6–29.0)

31.5

(24.9–39.1)

40.9

(32.4–51.1)

Movement

5.3

(4.9–5.7)

4.9

(4.6–5.2)

5.5

(4.8–6.3)

5.4

(4.9–5.9)

5.3

(4.6-6.0)

5.0

(4.5–5.6)

5.1

(4.5–5.8)

4.3

(3.7–4.7)