Responsibilities and functions of hospital pharmacists: Pharmacy Practice
Responsibilities functions hospital pharmacists are as follows
In-Patient Pharmacist Responsibilities
The areas of in-patient pharmacy department are:
1) Dispensing Area:
The responsibilities of the pharmacist in dispensing area are:
i) Policies: They ensures that the framed hospital policies and procedures are being obeyed.
ii) Accuracy: They maintains proper control on the accuracy of dosages prepared (particularly for intravenous administration).
iii) Maintenance of Records: They maintains records of drugs supplied, returned bills of investigational drugs and intravenous admixtures, etc.
iv) Storage: They have adequate control over the stocked drugs.
v) Working: He/she ensures the compliance of all the laws and rules, and that compounding is done by adequate techniques.
vi) Coordination: He/she manages all the conducts of dispensing area.
vii) Drug Information: He/she remains updated about the drugs in the hospital in terms of their side effects, therapeutic efficacy, stability, etc.
2) Patient Care Area
This area indicates any site of a hospital where patients are examined. Parts of the patient care area where pharmacists are involved are:
i) Coordination: He/she coordinates all the pharmacy services in the nursing unit.
ii) Communication: He/she consults nurses and medical staff for medicine administration problems.
iii) Technical: He/she shares technical sections giving instructions to the technicians for new procedures and dealing with difficult patients. The pharmacist connects the technician, nursing, and medical staff, thereby ensuring that proper techniques are followed by the technician for drug administration.
iv) Supervisory: He/she supervises and re-checks all the prescriptions for their correct entry in the unit dose system. The pharmacist periodically inspects individual patients’ drug administration forms for all doses being administered and charted correctly.
He/she periodically ensures whether the administered doses are mentioned on the patient’s chart and that the drug charges are correctly calculated. Also, He/she re-examines the missed doses, re-schedules them, and signs all “Drugs not given” notices. He/she timely checks the medication areas for maintenance of the adequate level of floor stock of drugs and supplies.
3) Direct Patient Care:
This relates to any facet of the health care of a patient, like treatments, counselling, self-care, patient education, and drug administration. Parts of the direct patient care area involving pharmacists are:
i) Patient’s Medication History: He/she takes down the patient’s medication history and forwards it to the physician.
ii) Identification of Drugs: He/she identifies the drugs brought to the hospital by the patient.
iii) Patient Monitoring: He/she not onlmonitors the overall patient’s drug therapy for its effectiveness, side effects, toxicities, and allergic reactions.
iv) Patient Counselling: They counsels the patient for self -administered drugs and discharge drugs.
v) Selection of Drug: They supports the physician while selecting the drugs, and dose regimens, and schedules the time for drug administration.
vi) Cardiopulmonary Emergencies: They gets involved in emergencies, like cardiopulmonary cases.
4) General Responsibilities: They provides education and drug information to other health professionals.
Responsibilities functions hospital pharmacists in relation to outpatient are as follows
Out-Patient Pharmacist Responsibilities
These responsibilities are categorized into three categories:
1) Central Dispensing Area:
The pharmacists perform the following tasks:
i) He/she ensures the use of correct compounding techniques.
ii) He/she maintains adequate records and billing for patients’ medication particulars, records of tentative drugs, records of out-patients bills (charging of services and material), and maintains and prepares all reports.
iii) He/she keeps up with the prescription files.
iv) He/she maintains the tidiness of the outdoor pharmacy.
2) Patient Care Area:
The pharmacists perform the following tasks:
i) He/she regularly visits and checks the medication areas in the nursing unit. He/she ensures an adequate supply of required drugs and other articles.
ii) He/she identifies the drugs brought to the clinic by the patients.
iii) He/she pharmacist records the patient’s medication history and delivers it to the physician’s knowledge.
iv) He/she assists the physician in selecting the drug regimen.
v) He/she also helps in selecting the right drug products and their entities.
vi) He/she involves inpatient counselling for use of medication and preparation for intravenous administration.
3) General Responsibilities
i) He/she understands and coordinates the complete pharmaceutical needs of the outdoor service area.
ii) He/she makes sure that all drugs are properly managed.
iii) He/she takes part in cardiopulmonary emergencies.
iv) He/she offers in-service education and training to pharmacists, pharmacy students taking practical training for their diploma or degree courses, and nurses.
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