Medical device on pharmacists' work-related musculoskeletal complaints and burnouts

This study analysed the total number of consumed vials of chemotherapy drugs during the year 2007 to determine workloads, and investigated the effects of using the Spike medical device in contrast to the use of traditional needles on oncology pharmacists' dispensing time, muscle soreness, work-related burnout and fatigue symptoms. Work-related burnout and physiological symptoms were measured using the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) and a visual analogue pain scale. The Spike device significantly reduced the time spent in drawing up fluorouracil (39.46 ± 9.43 s vs. 57.13 ± 13.47 s) or cisplatin (29.65 ± 11.22 s vs. 60.93 ± 20.54 s) compared with traditional needles (P <0.001). The CBI burnout score improved significantly with the Spike device (53.21 ± 8.58 vs. 73.21 ± 5.42; P = 0.007) because finger and palm muscle soreness complaints and subjective fatigue symptoms for eye tiredness and shoulder-wrist pain were significantly reduced (P <0.05). Practitioner Summary: The pharmacist needs to exert hand strength to counter the vial back-suction pressure to draw out the medical liquid, and confirm the volume during the drawing antineoplastic drug procedure. This study aimed to determine the effects of using a medical device, instead of a needle, on pharmacists' work-related musculoskeletal complaints and burnouts.