Over the last decades, pharmacy practice has evolved into a patient cantered care profession which aims to improve health outcome of the patient. Within the pharmaceutical practice model, the role of pharmacist is not restricted into just dispensing the right medication but to achieve an overall better outcome for the patient. Patient assessment is a vital part of this pharmaceutical model and is focused on gathering patient-specific information, evaluating that information, identify drug related problems and formulating a pharmaceutical care plan. (Jones and Rospond, 2009)
This essay is structured on a hypothetical scenario and is intended to highlight the way in which a pharmacist can access a patient. This patient assessment aims to identify the correct diagnosis and give further advices on the next steps that the patient must follow.
A 60 Years old men named Mr.P enters a pharmacy and ask to speak with the pharmacist about his cough which was lasting for more than three weeks. The pharmacist politely asks the patient to follow him to his consultation office in order to ask him some questions. Initially the pharmacist will take a normal history taking from the patient .More specific the pharmacist first asks the reason Mr. P seek care. Mr. P explains that he had a cough for three weeks. The pharmacist then, asks from Mr. to give further details about his cough; he asks him about the time he first experienced the cough, how it had progressed over time and what impact it had on his life .Mr. P. answers that the cough started suddenly three weeks ago but by the time it had become worse. His life had started to get more difficult as sometimes he experienced coughing while driving or doing other operations. He was ...
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US’s pharmacists have their hands tied and are demanding every patient to receive the precise medication prescription they have written up for. On the other hand, being a pharmacist is more than that, it is about building your patients’ knowledge on the risks and potential hazards on certain medications they are prescribed to. With that being said, this means that a pharmacist’s job is directly providing for patient in order to help them live a long healthy life within their scope of practice. Pharmacists cannot afford for any errors to occur and taking the time to make sure the accurate bottle of medication falls into the right patient’s hands is a huge responsibility for pharmacists
Polypharmacy among the elderly is a growing concern in U.S. healthcare system. Elderly who have comorbities and take multiple medications are at a higher risk for potential adverse drug reactions. Elderly who take over-the-counter medications, herbs, and supplements without consulting their physician are at risk for adverse reactions associated with polypharmacy. Polypharmacy can result from patients having multiple prescribers and pharmacies, and patients who continue to take medications which have been discontinued by the physician. There is a great need for nursing interventions regarding polypharmacy, including medication reviews also known as “brown bag”. As nurses obtain history data and conduct a patient assessment, it is essential to review the patients’ medications and ask open-ended questions regarding all types of medications in which the patient is taking. In addition, the patient assessment is also an opportunity for the nurse to inquire about any adverse reactions the patient may be experiencing resulting from medications. Nurses are in a unique position to provide early detection and intervention for potentially inappropriate medications and its associated adverse drug reactions.
Nurse researchers collected data from chart reviews, staff reports, incident reports and an adverse drug event log. They then reported their findings to the reviewers, two physicians who specialized in evaluating adverse events. In addition, the authors used scales that ranged from not harmful to harmful and grouped as ordering, filling, administration, monitoring or wrong dose (Rothschild,
Wakefield, B. J., Holman, T. U., & Wakefield, D. S. (2005). Development and Validation of the Medication Administration Error Reporting Survey. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality . Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK20599/#N0x1a52fc0N0x5b8ac78
Medication administration is an essential nursing skill that involves careful planning, numerous checks, and continuing supervision. This is because medication administration is one of the most common and recurrent mistakes that can occur in the healthcare setting (Australian Commission of Safety and Quality in Health Care, 2013). This then necessitates reflection through the description, evaluating, analysis, and planning to improve nursing practice (Gibbs, 1988).
Polypharmacy among the elderly is a growing concern in U.S. healthcare system. Patients who have comorbities and take multiple medications are at a higher risk for potential adverse drug reactions. There is a great need for nursing interventions in conducting a patient medication review also known as “brown bag”. As nurses obtain history data from patients at a provider visit, the nurse should ask “what medications are you taking?” and the answer needs to include over-the-counter medications as well. If the response does not include any medications other than prescribed meds, it is incumbent upon the nursing professionals to question the patient further to ensure that no over-the-counter medications or supplements are being consumed. This is also an opportunity for the nurse to question about any adverse reactions the patient may be experiencing resulting from medications. Polypharmacy can result from patients having multiple prescribers and pharmacies, and patients continuing to take medications that have been discontinued by the physician. Nurses are in a unique position to provide early detection and intervention for potentially inappropriate medications and its associated adverse drug reactions.
On admission to a healthcare facility, a health assessment is a mandatory tool in assessing the patient’s health status. In general an assessment is broken down in a two types of reviews, by conducting a health history which includes the collection of subjective data (information elicited by the patient or patients family members) and a physical examination of the patient which includes the gathering of evidence based data (Wilson & Giddens, 2009). Collecting and documenting accurate information is imperative in providing the allied health team this information to facilitate an efficient and well-formed care plan, as well establishing a baseline for subsequent assessments (Springhouse, 2004; Wilson & Giddens, 2009).
Medication errors are amongst the most common mistakes that have an impact on patient care. Medications are an absolute benefit if health care providers prescribe, dispense, and administer them to the patient by applying the appropriate technique. The administration of medication is a fundamental aspect of the nursing role and it is associated with significant risk, however, despite the health care team’s knowledge and devotion to quality care, errors with medications may occur. Therefore, it is important that health care providers are familiar with the most common encountered errors. Health care providers should be familiar with the basic rights of medication administration: Right drug, Right dose, Right patient, Right route, Right time, Right reason, and Right documentation and the three checks.
Working in this inpatient hospital pharmacy has provided me valuable experiences. I worked different shifts and involved in most of the duties a staff pharmacy technician did to gain as much understanding as possible about the hospital pharmacy system. This helped me learn how a clinical pharmacist or a pharmacy technician worked, how the doctor's orders were carried out and how drugs flew safely and quickly through many persons in the hospital. Assisting pharmacists, I observed how pharmacists collaborated with pharmacy team members and other health professionals to manage a therapeutic plan. I understood a good pharmacist, besides being competent, must be a good team player.
Compounded with other health issues, he was prescribed with a myriad of medications, ranging from hypertension and blood thinner to bladder spasm drugs. As I watched my aunt, who is a pharmacist, educating my elderly grandfather on polypharmacy, it sparked my interest in pharmacy as I researched all the medicines to get familiar with grandfather’s treatments. To get some insight and explore if this field is right for me, I applied and was offered the opportunity to shadow a pharmacist at UC Davis Hospital. This gave me a first glimpse of how vital pharmacists are in helping patients to recover and stay healthy, and this experience has solidified my desire to be a
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 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
The professional responsibilities of pharmacists in independent pharmacy are huge. To the patient, pharmacists are
Pharmacists play a key role in patient care and well-being. Not only do quality pharmacists dispense prescriptions to their patient’s, but they also consul them on how to get superior results. By maintain a thoughtful relationship and open communication with patients, pharmacists are able to best access their patient’s needs. As a pharmacist, it would be my goal to have that strong relationship with my patients. My dad personally struggled with taking his prescriptions, as most individuals diagnosed with severe clinical depression do. Clearly it is not his pharmacist’s fault my dad didn’t take his medication before it was too late. His pharmacist simply did his job. However, as a pharmacist, I would go above and beyond, the extra mile, to access