I volunteer at Wagner Pharmacy in Santa Ana, where there is great health disparity and lack of medication knowledge in the community. I monitor patient adherence through patient education and Medication Therapy Management (MTM) programs, Outcomes and Mirixa. My responsibilities include evaluating patients’ drug compliance and faxing a plan of action with medical literature to their physicians to suggest a change in patients’ medication therapy on behalf of the pharmacist. I observed a Comprehensive Medication Review (CMR) of an elderly patient, who was on multiple drugs for diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. Through this experience, I was able to experience the close interaction between the pharmacist and patient and the important role that a pharmacist plays as an integral part of the healthcare team. I also assisted the pharmacist to prepare patient assessment forms required for the pharmacist to prescribe hormonal contraceptives, Naloxone and smoking cessation therapies. I look forward to the expanding roles of pharmacists provided by the passage of SB493. …show more content…
I was able to successfully assist one particular patient with a blood pressure reading of 150/90. A review of her medication history revealed that she was non-adherent. Through patient education and translators, I was able to monitor and improve her medication compliance by providing her a weekly pill case reminder. A few months later with multiple blood pressure screenings, her blood pressure gradually improved to 120/85. Such experiences have confirmed my passion for the field of pharmacy though the positive impacts I have been making on patients’ lives. I will bring my unique pharmacy experiences and personal characteristics: attention to detail, positive attitude, and personal integrity to UCSF and become an exceptional healthcare provider.
It is composed of actively practicing physicians, other prescribers, pharmacists, nurses, administrators, quality improvement managers, and other health care professionals and staff who participate in the medication-use process. The P&T committee should be responsible for overseeing policies and procedures related to all aspects of medication use within an institution. The P&T committee is responsible to the medical staff as a whole, and its recommendations are subject to approval by the organized medical staff as well as the administrative approval process. The P&T committee’s organization and authority should be outlined in the organization’s medical staff bylaws, medical staff rules and regulations, and other organizational policies as appropriate. Other responsibilities of the P&T committee include medication-use evaluation (MUE), adverse-drug-event monitoring and reporting, medication-error prevention, and development of clinical care plans and guidelines. The hospital’s internal policies follow all national standards for how the P&T committee should
Pharmacists have many different responsibilities to their patients, these include promoting patient’s safety through checking the patient’s medication and keeping good records every time a patient fills a new prescription or refills prescription filled (Leagle, 1994). Pharmacists should also improve
During a interview with County Pharmacists Associations newly elected president, Lillian Shisehaunt, pharmacist, said there were a few concerns that needed to be made aware of. She began to speak the concerns about how older people are taking way too many medications at the same time. In this meeting, other pharmacist agreed to the statement stated as well.
Counseling patients is extremely important; it allows pharmacists with the opportunity to better understand the health status of their patients. If a patient doesn’t know what, why or how to take their medication. We are the ones who help educate them. Better informed patients equates to better overall healthcare. If they are more medically literate before seeking our help, we can better assist them. As they begin to inquire more, it pushes health care providers to be more conscientious of their tasks. Greater care and consideration is taken when our patients can also hold us accountable. Encouraging patients to reach out with concerns or comments will benefit the pharmacist patient care process. For example, if the patient was able to identify that the drug name, though similar, were blatantly incorrect and brought it to the attention of her pharmacist they could have fixed it before the patient walked out the
Medication adherence is described as the extent to which the patients take medication as prescribed by the health care provider. To ensure the patients receive proper care, health care systems must implement procedures to successfully meet their needs and overall improve their quality of life. However, there are several reasons that affect proper medical care, which ultimately results in an increase in health care expenses and poorer health outcomes for patients. Studies have shown that approximately 50% of patients do not take their chronic medications as prescribed and that nonadherence can cost the health care system nearly $100 to $289 billion per year (1). Medication adherence is difficult to achieve due to ineffective communication between
Byerly, W. (2009). Working with the institutional review board. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy: AJHP: Official Journal Of The American Society Of Health System Pharmacists, 66(2), 176-184. Retrieved from http://library.kaplan.edu/content.php?pid=150035
Goal three by the National Patient Safety Goal for 2014 is to use medicines safely. Many errors occur regularly with medications which is why communication is so important with the doctors, nurses and patients. One process that Joint Commission requires in accredited HCO’s is medication reconciliation “creating the most accurate list possible off all medications a patient is taking, including drug name, dosage, frequency, and route, and comparing that list against the physician’s admission, transfer, and/or discharge orders with the goal of providing correct medications to the patients at all transition points within the hospital (Finkelman & Kenner, 2012, p. 388)”. Ensuring medication reconciliation to the patient, health providers and any new consults that are
In the United States today, the elderly make up approximately 13% of the population but use 30% of all prescriptions written. This article focuses on the importance of understanding patients’ prescriptions and their adverse drug events (ADE), as well as the best ways to care for patients with many prescriptions. The article also discusses the best ways to avoid ADEs.
Pew, Stephen, Ph.D (2008). Introduction to Health Services. 7th Ed. [Video] Thomson Delmar Learning. Retrieved from:
The US is an aging society like many societies around the world and as a result, there is an increase in the number of patients admitted to nursing homes. The elderly population is a fragile population that undergoes mental and physical decline in health. This increases the number of medications used, which increase the risk of adverse drug reactions due to drug-drug and drug-disease interactions. Pharmacists have become increasingly active in nursing homes by providing medication therapy management services, but the benefit in reducing prevalence of these adverse drug reactions is not fully understood. Medication therapy management is a growing field that has been incorporated by pharmacists in different states to optimize therapeutic outcomes in individual patients. Understanding the relationship between medication management and drug- drug
In the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report in 2006, Preventing Medication Error, more than 1/3 of the 1.5 million adverse drug events that were recorded in the United States each year occurred in an outpatient setting. Likewise, in 2008 IOM released a report that laid emphases on the need for setting universal standards within prescribing and dispensing practices. Multiple studies reported that an increased prevalence of patient adherence to taking prescribed medications can be compromised by their inability to comprehend or understand the directions for taking the medication (Wolf et al., 2016). The inability to understand and interpret prescription drug labels were recognized as the leading cause of a large proportion of outpatient medication error and adverse events, as patients may possibly accidentally misuse a prescribed
Ellenbeck et al. (2004) conducted a study to identify nurses’ experiences and perceptions regarding medication and associated adverse outcomes related to polypharmacy. This non-experimental, descriptive study containing quantitative and qualitative data was used to determine the nurses’ observations and experiences. The sample included 101 home health care nurses from 12 agencies, who reported on 1467 patients. The collection of data was from the nurses’ responses to the questionnaire and surveys regarding medication management. The results of the study revealed 78% of the patients were at risk for medication error and 5% of the patients reported adverse effects of medications due to polypharmacy. In addition to lack of medication education, nurses reported that 5% of the patients were taking medications in which they did not have an order for, 9% of the medications were prescribed by more than one provide, and 5% of the patients medication orders were not updated in their records. The study also revealed that the nurses’ observations included older
Optimizing drug therapy is an essential part of caring for an older person. The process of prescribing a medication is complex and includes: deciding that a drug is indicated, choosing the best drug, determining a dose and schedule appropriate for the patient's physiologic status, monitoring for effectiveness and toxicity, educating the patient about expected side effects, and indications for seeking consultation. Multiple factors contribute to the appropriateness and overall quality of drug prescribing. These include avoidance of inappropriate medications, appropriate use of indicated medications, monitoring for side effects and drug levels, avoidance of drug-drug interactions, and involvement of the patient and integration of patient values.
The provision of written medication information given to the patient helps significantly in cases of medication non compliance (McGraw & Drennan 2004). This is because it aids in memory retention and presents patients with access to a reliable source of concise medication information, particularly if the patient needs to be reminded of certain aspects (Gorgos 2006). These written medication information sheets need to be provided in the patients primary, dominant language because it reduces the difficulty and limits barriers to patient understanding (Gorgos 2006).This is important because this intervention aims to increase a patient’s understanding of their medications, and when a patient feels more competent with the use of their medications, reduced
My Butler University academic training and intern experience has positioned me to recognize and appreciate the essential role performed by the clinical pharmacist. Although sometimes transparent, it is the clinical pharmacist that is central to a patient’s ultimate successful recovery. This was evident during my clinical rotations, where I directly participated in the optimization of medication therapy to achieve patient-specific outcomes; it is for this reason I am impassioned and compelled to pursue a residency. As a PGY-1 resident, I plan to apply my clinical knowledge in the acute and ambulatory care settings to identify medication-related problems and make therapeutic recommendations in collaboration with other practitioners. Upon completion