Sammanfattning
This article describes how nursing-related tasks can successfully be shifted to other
professional groups, as demonstrated by the project "Task shifting from nurse to pharmacist and
physiotherapist", which was carried out in a medical ward at Nordsjællands Hospital. The project
demonstrated the value for the care pathway of having a physiotherapist employed at ward-level to
perform nursing tasks in relation to the patient's functional level, discharge plans and pressure sore
prevention. The presence of a physiotherapist also resulted in improvements in occupational health
and safety, notably in relation to ergonomics and safe patient repositioning. The project also
revealed the quality benefits of employing a pharmacist at ward level as a sparring partner and aide
for both medical and nursing staff. In parallel with this role, the pharmacist (has a 5-year pharmacy
training) can supervise pharmaconomists (3-year pharmacy training) who can be employed at section
level for administering medication on admission and on discharge. The improvement model,
developed by the Institute of Healthcare Improvement, was employed as a method in the project for
both quality improvements and organisational development. For presentation of data, statistical
process control (SPC) was used.