Development and implementation of a multidisciplinary anticoagulation educational program

Staff development programs have been developed by national pharmacy organizations to improve clinical skills and expand the services offered by pharmacists. Most of these programs do not involve the training of other health care professionals. This article describes an anticoagulation training program designed not only for pharmacists, but for physicians and nurses as well. For pharmacists, the effectiveness of educational interventions was assessed by pretest/post-test/surveys with an average increase of 38% from baseline (p < 0.01). The knowledge gained by physicians and nurses is an ongoing process evaluated by follow-up warfarin medication use evaluations and prospective weight-based heparin protocol evaluations. The goal of staff development should be to equip each member of the health care team with the knowledge needed to improve patient outcomes.