{{short description|Hospital Pharmacist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}} {{Use Australian English|date=October 2016}} {{infobox person | name = Marvis Grace Sweeney | image=Mavis Sweeney receiving the Evans Medal for Merit.jpg | caption = Sweeney receiving the Evans Medal for Merit | birth_date = {{birth year|1909}} | death_date = {{date of death and age|1986|07|23|1909|df=yes}} | occupation = Pharmacist | awards = Evans Medal for Merit | employer = Rachel Forster Hospital }} '''Mavis Grace Sweeney''' (1909 – 23 July 1986)<ref name=DeathNotice>{{cite news|title=Death notices|url=http://www.smh.com.au|accessdate=21 November 2014|work=Sydney Morning Herald|date=26 July 1986}}</ref> was an Australian hospital pharmacist who was awarded the Evans Medal for Merit in 1968. The Evans Medal of Merit recognised outstanding contributions to the profession of pharmacy.<ref name="SHPA1">{{cite web |title=MEDAL OF MERIT |url=http://www.shpa.org.au/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=SHPA/ccms.r?PageId=67 |publisher=The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia |accessdate=22 November 2014 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129102735/http://www.shpa.org.au/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=SHPA/ccms.r?PageId=67 |archivedate=29 November 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Early years==
Her grades at Fort Street Girls High School were excellent<ref name=FortStreet02>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16349863 |title=METROPOLITAN. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=25 January 1927 |accessdate=25 November 2014 |page=8 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> and she was a prefect.<ref name=FortStreet01>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article128164336 |title=At The Wentworth. |newspaper=The Sunday Times |location=Sydney |date=13 December 1925 |accessdate=25 November 2014 |page=7 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
==Working years==
Sweeney was Chief Pharmacist at Rachel Forster Hospital, in Redfern, New South Wales, Australia (now part of the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital), when she received her accolade in 1968.<ref name=GSKmedal>{{cite book|title=The Glaxo Medal of Merit.|date=1984|publisher=Glaxo Australia|location=Boronia, Victoria|page=9}}</ref> She delivered her acceptance speech late in 1968 in Perth.<ref name=SweeneySpeech /> Prior to this, Sweeney had previously spent an extended period of time overseas from the end of 1949 (and prior to 1958).<ref name=GSKmedal />
==Contributions to pharmacy==
Sweeney's contributions to pharmacy include extensive involvement in establishing professional pharmacy organisations and leadership roles:<ref name=GSKmedal />
*Sweeney held numerous responsible offices in various pharmaceutical groups *She was a founding member of the first Hospital Pharmacists Society in NSW in 1940. The group disbanded, however, after she left for overseas in 1949. *Upon returning to Australia, Sweeney in 1958 arranged an inaugural meeting of pharmacists from hospital, academic institutions and industry. *In 1962, she helped establish the New South Wales Branch of the Society of Hospital Pharmaceutical Chemists of Australia -today known as the NSW Branch of The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA). *Sweeney was also elected federal president of the Association of Women Pharmaceutical Chemists of Australia in 1967
==Special interest areas==
Sweeney's interests covered matters relating to the delivery of pharmaceutical services as an integral part of "total patient care" in a hospital setting.<ref name=SweeneySpeech /> Her speech in 1968 elucidated both her understanding and vision of the role of pharmacy in hospital settings.
This included:
*The multifaceted processes behind the development of hospital pharmacy into the future, including teamwork psychology and communication skills. *Transition towards the customisation of pharmacy services through a greater emphasis on individual prescriptions. *Liaising with medical and nursing staff to create a system of checking, to ensure drugs are used for intended purposes and under safe conditions. *Implementing imprest systems for distributing drugs on the wards to save time for nursing staff while also ensuring quality use of medicines *Drug information services and adverse event reporting *Effective people management to better utilise pharmacy resources in the face of growing demands on services provision *Contribution of pharmacy to drug committees in good decision making *Careful planning and budgeting processes, including forecasting, as part of good inventory control *Providing lectures and career guidance on pharmacy to interested individuals
==Impact on pharmacy practice in Australia==
The predictions Sweeney included in her 1968 oration about the development of clinical pharmacy were accurate.<ref name=SweeneySpeech>{{cite journal|last1=Sweeney|first1=Mavis|title=The Role of the Pharmacist in the Modern Hospital|journal=The Australian Journal of Hospital Pharmacy|date=November 1968|volume=1|issue=12|pages=525–529}}</ref>
They encompassed:
*Monitoring the use of drugs in patients *Preventing medication errors *Increasing the presence of pharmacy in hospital wards *Adverse drug reaction reporting *Discharge medication management *Surveillance of drug usage
The above activities today are generally considered to be normal aspects of hospital pharmacy practice.<ref name="SHPAfact">{{cite web|title=The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia FACT SHEET |url=http://www.shpa.org.au/lib/pdf/positionstatement/fact_shpa.pdf |publisher=The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia |accessdate=22 November 2014 |date=December 2013 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129102727/http://www.shpa.org.au/lib/pdf/positionstatement/fact_shpa.pdf |archivedate=29 November 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweeney, Mavis}} Category:Australian pharmacists Category:University of Sydney alumni Category:1909 births Category:1986 deaths Category:Women pharmacists Category:People educated at Fort Street High School