Working in a Long-Term Care Pharmacy

Working in a Long-Term Care PharmacyWorking in a Long-Term Care PharmacyThere are many different types of pharmacies an independent pharmacy, a chain, a hospital, a long-term care facility, or a compounding pharmacy. All serve their patrons differently, while still supplying patients with high-quality medication and medication therapy management services. What Its Like to Work in a Long-Term Care Pharmacy Steve Dove has worked as a pharmacist in a long-term care pharmacy, for Rexall Long-Term Care for three years and long-term care in general for eight years. His company fulfills the pharmacy needs for around 25 long-term care facilities, which range from four up to 300 beds, all in Victoria, on Vancouver Island, B.C. This means a total of around 1,200 patients and more than 1,000 prescriptions per week. Dove works alongside seven other pharmacists. Five of the other seven are either clinical pharmacists or prescription pharmacists Three people check prescriptions after theyve be en processed- one person checks new orders, and twopeople manage refills.Two people input prescriptions into the computerTwo are what Dove describes as spares, who cover for anyone whos not there and work where theyre needed. How It Differs From a Traditional Pharmacy Working in a long-term care pharmacy setting is different from a traditional pharmacy because there are no patients coming in and out. The advantage to it is you can control your workflow much better because you dont have any customers coming in, explains Dove. Your main contact is doctors and nurses, and we also know everything the patient is taking. In a traditional pharmacy setting, it can be very difficult to know if patients are taking other prescribed drugs or over the counter medications which can interact with the medication prescriptions that you are filling.There can be some negatives to working in a long-term care setting, such as Theres much less human interaction, which some people can miss.You know ve ry little about your patients because you never see them.It can seem like a bit of a factory.Long-term care pharmacy is more clinical than retail. Typical Long Term Care Pharmacist Job Description The role of a long-term care pharmacist is broad and varied. Pharmacists may be expected to Prepare medications by reviewing and interpreting physician ordersDetect therapeutic incompatibilities and possible interactions between drugsDispense medications by compounding, packaging, and labeling pharmaceuticalsControl medications by monitoring drug therapies and advising interventionsComplete pharmacy operational requirements, such asOrganizing and directing technicians workflowVerifying technician preparation and labeling of pharmaceuticalsVerifying order entries, charges, and inspections Answer questions and requests made by health care professionalsOccasional counseling of patients on drug therapiesComply with state and federal drug laws as regulated by the state board of pharmacy, Th e Drug Enforcement Administration, and The Food and Drug Administration including but not limited toMonitor nursing unit inspectionsMaintain records for controlled substancesRemove outdated and damaged drugs from the pharmacy inventorySupervise the work results of support personnelMaintain current registrationStudy existing and new legislation, anticipating legislationAdvise management on needed actions. Perform various administrative duties as required