Parkview Hospital Notes National Pharmacy Week
10/6/2011
MEXIA, TX –Pharmacists at Parkview Regional Hospital will use the occasion of National Hospital & Health-System Pharmacy Week, October 16-22, to underscore the many essential roles they now play in patient care. The evolution has been especially dramatic in recent years as pharmacists have moved beyond compounding and dispensing medications to become vital members of multidisciplinary patient-care teams.
“Many consumers are not aware that pharmacists play a critical role in preventing medication errors, advising prescribers on the best drug choices, and working directly with patients to ensure they understand how to use their medications safely and effectively,” said Janis Johnson, Parkview Pharmacist. “Pharmacy Week is a great way to educate the public about how we can help them get the most benefit from their medicine.”
Pharmacists are experts on the thousands of medications available today, how each one works in the body, and the ways to use each one safely and effectively. They often advise doctors and nurses on the best medications and monitor every patient’s medication therapy and provide quality checks to detect and prevent harmful drug interactions, reactions, or mistakes.
Hospital and health-system pharmacists have been able to take on enhanced patient-care roles because of a number of factors, including the deployment of highly trained, certified technicians and new technologies like robotics that dispense medications. As technology evolves—such as the addition of machine-readable codes to medication labels—patients will have greater opportunities to have a pharmacist involved in their care.
Pharmacists can also provide consumers with answers to questions that might arise from the growing use of online health information. Pharmacists know about interactions with food, medicines, or dietary supplements that can effect how medicines work. Some interactions can be dangerous. When picking up a new medicine, ask if it will work safely with other prescription and nonprescription medicines you may be taking. Tell your pharmacist about any herbal products that you may be using, as well.
"It’s important that patients keep the pharmacist informed about all prescription and nonprescription medications being taken and asks important questions. That way, we can monitor the patient’s treatment and help guarantee a healthy result," said Johnson.
The Pharmacy Department at Parkview is a busy place. They fill over 37,000 medication doses per month. Patient safety is a priority for the Pharmacy Department at Parkview. The Pharmacy Department also holds a number of educational inservices for the hospital staff throughout the year to teach them about new medications that arrive on the market.
Parkview’s Pharmacy wishes to take this week to remind the community about some safety tips for medication use:
- Be sure your name is on every container of medication. If the drug is for a child, make sure the child’s name is on the bottle.
- Never take a medication out of its original container to store it.
- Highlight the patient’s name and the expiration date with a maker so it’s easily seen. Use a different color for each member of the family.
- Read the entire label each time you take medication yourself or give it to family members.
- If you have stopped taking a particular medication but have some left, check with your pharmacist or doctor. Many medications should be taken until they are gone and having leftovers could indicate that the medication was not taken properly.
- Throw away any medicine that hasn’t been used in six months.
- Do not share medicines. Medication should be taken only by the patient for whom it was prescribed.
- Keep a permanent list of all medications taken by each family member as part of the family’s history.
For more information about pharmacists, visit www.aphanet.org. For more information on the pharmacy at Parkview, call (254) 562-5332, extension 1244.