Blake Medical Center gives me a great opportunity to learn about institutional pharmacy practice setting. My goals in this rotation are to see performances of pharmacists and technicians, their daily tasks, pharmacy workflows and institutional pharmacy settings compared to my actual experience from retail pharmacy. During my first two weeks of rotation, I have gained some experiences when I have some activities with pharmacy technicians. When the drug inventory and “central supply chain” order come in, I have to put medications on the shelves in alphabetical order and I also use the drug scanner to input drug quantities in the system. Some other medications must go straight to the Pixus machines. When nurses call the pharmacy to request any medication, I help …show more content…
The area of pharmacy practice I participated in that was covered in PDHC coursework is the drug identification. I can review my Top 300 drugs list when I restock, pull out, and deliver them. I write down any medications I want to do some researches and ask my preceptor to see their indication, warnings, contraindication, and side effects. My specific goals for the final two weeks of the rotation are to learn more about IV preparation, infectious diseases, and pharmacy workflow. I am also interested to see the guardwails library which has big functions such as auditing, compliance, medication standards, and dispending correct medications. I want to see how it limits registered nurses to monitor the medications and ensure the right amount of time for registered nurses to perform to avoid any medication errors such as medications in wrong bins, wrong medications in Pixus machines, and nurse got wrong
Overall, I retain three goals for this clinical day: Safely and efficently administer medication, enhance my nursing/CNA skills, and determine how to implement infection control into a health care setting. This week reflects my assigned time to administer medication in a health care setting for the first time, with a resident who retains nearly twenty medications. I except this experience will be a great learning experience, but it will also subsist slightly stressful. With the assistance of my FOR, my goal is to administer all of my resident 's medications without complications. To ensure that medication safety, I will perform the six medication rights and three checks prior to administration. Along with medication administration, a goal
Baccalaureate nurses are responsible for providing and ensure our patients safety. The knowledge from others mistakes can help informs nurses of extra precautions that we can take to ensure our patient’s safety. Risk Analysis and Implication for practice course helped me understand the steps I as a nurse can take as well as the facilities I work for to help reduce the number of medication errors that occur. Interviewing the pharmacist help me get a better insight to what facilities already have in place to help prevent medication errors. However like most things you have to have educated and compassionate caring staff to enforce and follow the guidelines set in place.
"Pharmacy Technicians." Occupational Outlook Handbook (2008): 1. Associates Programs Source. EBSCO. Web. 9 June 2010.
It is this singular fact that very few people realize. A pharmacy technician who receives no formal training is responsible for not just the delivery of a patient’s medication, but also for their bill, their confidential information, and their life. The question now is, how can an uneducated individual be given so much responsibility? Technicians are granted these responsibilities because a pharmacist can not do the job alone. Pharmacists strive to mold each new technician into an employee that will realize what technicians really do.
• Organize inventory and alert pharmacists to any shortages of medications or supplies • Accept payment for prescriptions and process insurance claims • Enter customer or patient information, including any prescriptions taken, into a computer system • Answer phone calls from customers • Arrange for customers to speak with pharmacists if customers have questions about medications or health matters Pharmacy technicians work under the supervision of pharmacists, who must review prescriptions before they are given to patients. In most states, technicians can compound or mix medications and call physicians for prescription refill authorizations. Technicians also may need to operate automated dispensing equipment when filling prescription orders. Pharmacy technicians working in hospitals and other medical facilities prepare a greater variety of medications, such as intravenous medications.
Drug administration forms a major part of the clinical nurse’s role. Medicines are prescribed by the doctor and dispensed by the pharmacist but responsibility for correct administration rests with the registered nurse (O'Shea 1999). So as a student nurse this has become my duty and something that I need to practice and become competent in carrying it out. Each registered nurse is accountable for his/her practice. This practice includes preparing, checking and administering medications, updating knowledge of medications, monitoring the effectiveness of treatment, reporting adverse drug reactions and teaching patients about the drugs that they receive (NMC 2008). Accountability also goes for students, if at any point I felt I was not competent enough to dispensing a certain drug it would be my responsibility in speaking up and let the registered nurses know, so that I could shadow them and have the opportunity to learn help me in future practice and administration.
I have been a register nurse for 15 years and feel comfortable with indications for many drugs, however I know that there are many other aspects of pharmacology that I have neglected throughout my nursing career. One of the expectations I have during my transition as an APRN is to become proficient in pharmacology. To achieve this expectation, I plan to master many of the pharmacology aspects that I have neglected since nursing school, such as pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. I realize that the indication for a drug and knowing common dosages is only a small portion of proscribing a medication, knowing how the drug functions and focusing on individual patient pros and cons is essential when prescribing a medication. Another goal I would like to gain from this course and my shift to prescribing medications, is knowledge of the appropriate resources I can use for pharmacology information in the clinical setting.
Giving out the wrong medication, or improper dosages can potentially be fatal to patients. Pharmacy technicians must be willing to take on this risk and do their work as carefully and accurately as possible.
During March 2016, in Stage 1 of the pharmacy degree, I attended a two day work placement in a community pharmacy as part of the Work Based Learning module within the Capability unit. The purpose of Work Based Learning is to increase engagement with learning and to develop skills specific to patient pathways. This will link to Stage 4 of the MPharm course in which the main unit is Patient Centred Care. Therefore, it is imperative that I enhance my patient education skills through my own education.
Lorna Smith is the Pharmacy Manager at the Walmart Pharmacy in Kenora, Ontario. Lorna’s challenges as a manager include the current expansion in the pharmacist’s scope of practice, the change in government reimbursement for pharmacy services, the demand by consumers for better professional services and product selection, and the need for this location to be profitable. Lorna must move her team through a rapidly changing environment in order to be successful in the local competitive retail pharmacy market.
I pleased to apply to the PharmD program as the program is one area that corresponds to my career dreams. Being part of this program gives one the opportunity to gain an excellent experience in working and collaborating with various health care providers in the ward. But more importantly, it facilitates a practical environment in dealing more closely with patients. Hence, it helps to provide the ultimate health care services to patients. Also, it permits me to carry on gaining different knowledge, skills, and values in addition to those I have already developed during my undergraduate studies. My interest in being a clinical pharmacist was first aroused during my SPEP rotation in the hospital setting where I was really impressed with the role of clinical pharmacists who provide a consistent process of patient care with healthcare teams to maintain the appropriateness, effectiveness and safety of the medication use. Unlike a pharmacist, a clinical pharmacist has a more diversified responsibilities and closeness to direct patient care. Moreover, provides
Trounce, J. (2000) Clinical pharmacology for nurses: the role of the nurse in drug administration. 16th Ed. London: Churchill Livingstone.
First, here is some important background information about Pharmacists. A Pharmacist is someone who is trained and licensed to distribute medicinal drugs and to advise on their use. According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook Pharmacists do all of the following: "Fill prescriptions, verify proper amounts of medication to give to patients, check whether the prescription will interact negatively with other drugs that a patient is taking or conditions the patient has, instruct patients on how to and when to take a prescribed medicine, Advise patients on potential side effects they may experience from taking the medicine, Advise patients about general health topics, such as diet, exercise, managing stress, and on other issues, such as what equipment or supplies would be best for a health problem, Keep records and do other administrative tasks, Complete insurance forms and work with insurance companies to be sure that patients get the medicine they need, Teach other healthcare practitioners about proper medication therapies for patients, and lastly oversee the work of pharmacy technicians and pharmacists training."() Some pharmacists participate in compounding, where they create medications by mixing ingredients themselves. Pharmacists tha...
I was also responsible for monitoring medication orders and reviewing patient profiles to ensure that the proper drugs and dosages were prescribed and that the pharmacy technician had prepared them properly. In many instances there were mistakes made in the preparation phase and sometimes even before, with incorrect dosages or drugs being prescribed and prepared, which could result in serious adverse effects for the patient. A clinical pharmacist’s role, however, is to make sure that these mistakes never reach the
During my senior year in high school, I started an internship at Walgreens Pharmacy in Brownsville, Texas. This was a unique opportunity for me to find out if I would like to have a career as a pharmacist. So far, not only have I learned about my interest in pharmacy, but I have also learned from Dr. Leonard, one of the pharmacists at Walgreens. Even though I have made many mistakes as a Pharmacy Technician Trainee, Dr. Leonard always motivated me to do better the next time and stay positive. He always has a smile when he is working and looks forward to helping others. As a result of his qualities, Dr. Leonard assists everyone work easier together because there are never arguments. If there is a misunderstanding, Dr. Leonard al...