Pharmacist - St. Paul's Hospital

Detailed Overview

The Pharmacist provides distribution pharmacy services by performing duties such as interpreting medication orders / prescriptions, assessing prescriptions for therapeutic suitability and ensuring that medications are efficiently and accurately dispensed and / or compounded and labelled and that dispensing records are complete.

Communicates with physicians, patients, and / or other health care team members for prescription clarification and problem resolution.

Provides instructions to others on proper use / administration, storage and / or disposal, possible side effects of prescribed and self selected medications.

Participates in the collection of data for medication use evaluation projects, implementation of dispensary based medication safety initiatives, quality control activities, contributes to internal publications and participates in clinical drug trials in accordance with established standards and procedures.

Additionally, the Pharmacist functions as a Clinical Pharmacist responsible for ensuring select patient drug related problems are resolved.

Participates in nursing ward rounds and / or program team meetings and documents patient specific therapeutic plans. Responsibilities Interprets medication orders / prescriptions and dispenses medications using a computerized medication information system in accordance with legal, professional, and departmental policies, procedures and standards.

Assesses prescriptions for therapeutic suitability by referring to standardized references (primary drug information texts), interpreting laboratory data, and / or reviewing patient specific demographics.

Reviews patient profiles for any patient allergies, potential drug interactions, therapeutic duplications or contraindications.

Withholds medications until safety concerns are resolved. Communicates with physicians, patients, and / or other health care team members for prescription clarification and problem resolution.

Documents the outcome of the interaction with the prescriber. Provides instructions to others on proper use / administration, storage and / or disposal, possible side effects of prescribed and self selected medications, etc.

Communicates verbally and in writing, with physicians, nurses and other professionals and provides drug information using appropriate reference material.

Participates in obtaining medication history from select patients and verifies any allergy information and assists with medication reconciliation process.

Ensures that medications are efficiently and accurately dispensed and / or compounded and labelled and that dispensing records are completed.

Provides medication counselling regarding drug therapy to patients and / or their families, as required. Provides allergy assessment and discharge counselling for appropriate patients.

Documents patient interactions in the patient health care record in a standardized format. Reviews patient screening reports or targeted drug lists and identifies potential drug related problems based on available laboratory data.

Provides basic pharmacokinetic interpretations on patients receiving targeted drugs (e.g. aminoglycoside, warfarin and vancomycin).

Participates in the collection of data for medication use evaluation projects and documents the required information. Assists in maintaining adequate inventories, notes shortages, requisitions drugs and / or supplies and monitors expiry dates, reports procedural errors and participates in quality improvement activities.

Participates in dispensary based implementation of medication safety initiatives and quality control activities in accordance with established standards and procedures.

Maintains records for narcotic and controlled drugs, special access program drugs and departmental statistics in accordance with legal, professional and departmental standards, polices and procedures.

Participates in the orientation of pharmacy students, residents, technicians, assistants and new staff members by demonstrating dispensary related functions, procedures, techniques and department equipment and by providing verbal guidance and input regarding progress, as assigned.

Contributes to internal publications and participates in clinical drug trials by dispensing medications and completing associated documentation.

Reviews cases of reported drug adverse reactions and completes necessary documentation. Participates in staff meetings, committees and other programs as required;

identifies opportunities to improve processes and / or procedures to enable safe and efficient operations and refers to supervisor and / or others.

Functions as a clinical pharmacist responsible for ensuring select patient drug related problems are resolved. Participates in ward rounds and / or program team meetings and documents patient-specific therapeutic plans.

Performs other related duties as assigned. Qualifications Education and Experience Current registration as a Pharmacist with the College of Pharmacists of British Columbia.

Skills and Abilities Knowledge of drug distribution processes in a hospital setting. Ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing.

Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with other health care practitioners, as well as patients, family members and the public.

Ability to organize and prioritize work. Ability to operate related equipment. Physical ability to carry out the duties of the position.