Pharmacists giving injections!?!

Nurses Medications

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I went into a a local store the other day to get a presription filled. I saw a sign that said basically get your flu, tetorifice, meningitis, and other vaccinations right there. My first thought was "Great, I missed the flu shots given at work and they take my insurance." I went onto read that the vaccinations are given by specially trained pharmacists that took a course. I was a bit upset reading this. I don't want to fill my pts meds and I don't want a pharmacist who took an hour course to be thinking that is enough training to safely do part of my job!

Am I overreacting? Just seems like nursing should remain nursing. Once they start this, who knows what's next!

It's not the fact that anyone can give an injection that gets me. It's the fact that yrs ago we would not have seen this and as time moves on what else will we see that other professionals are doing that is currently part of the nursing scope?

I understand pharmacists are well educated. They went to school for more years than I did and know just about everything regarding medications. I'm not sure how I feel about another professional doing part of my job. I wouldn't want to go to school to be a pharmacist. If so, I would have years ago. I guess I feel as though this is part of nursing and whats next?

I'm quite sure they are more than capable, but it's still a nursing thing for me. When does it end, with my trash man listening to my lungs? I know, not even a close comparison but I just worry about the future of nursing....

You do realize that even medical assistants (who are generally much less educated than a pharmacist) administer injections? At my ped's office the MAs give all the innoculations to the babies and kids. I am sure some people assume they are actually nurses, but they aren't. Giving injections is not a nursing job, I don't understand why you feel that only nurses can or should do it? As someone else mentioned, there are many people that have to give injections to themselves or family members at home. My husband had to learn how to do an IM injection so that we could trigger ovulation for fertility treatments. As someone else already stated, a monkey could give an injection, it takes only a few minutes to teach someone how to do it.

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Specializes in Holistic and Aesthetic Medicine.

Nursing scope of practice overlaps almost every other health profession. Almost nothing we do is exclusive to nursing.

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Agree with the general consensus. Administering injections is not specific to nursing and a pharmacists education in physical science far exceeds that of most nurses. I'd be more than happy to allow a pharmacist to administer an IM injection to me.

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Specializes in LTC.

And I'd rather a pharmasist than a monkey. :lol2:

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Specializes in cardiac, ICU, education.
It's not the fact that anyone can give an injection that gets me. It's the fact that yrs ago we would not have seen this and as time moves on what else will we see that other professionals are doing that is currently part of the nursing scope?

Years ago nurses couldn't give injections either (many years ago). But even in the recent past nurses couldn't pull out a cath after an angioplasty, operate a defibrillator, or any other advanced procedure, doctors gave up some of their 'work' which has advanced their profession. I am not saying nurses should give up giving injections, but I think we can release some responsibilities to highly qualified people.

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Specializes in Acute Mental Health.
You do realize that even medical assistants (who are generally much less educated than a pharmacist) administer injections? At my ped's office the MAs give all the innoculations to the babies and kids. I am sure some people assume they are actually nurses, but they aren't. Giving injections is not a nursing job, I don't understand why you feel that only nurses can or should do it? As someone else mentioned, there are many people that have to give injections to themselves or family members at home. My husband had to learn how to do an IM injection so that we could trigger ovulation for fertility treatments. As someone else already stated, a monkey could give an injection, it takes only a few minutes to teach someone how to do it.

Yes, MA's and LPN's are what we see in clinics. Employment ads usually state LPN or MA for clinics. The MA program is, I believe, one year with clinicals. I think some are missing my concerns. As for the monkey, I'm not sure they can pull back the plunger and recognize whether they see blood or not; but I do get everyones point. I still wonder what is next. That's all, nothing more :)

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I have a friend who is pharmacist who worked for a large national chain. He retired a couple of years ago, and one of the reasons was because of the flu shots. He said it was because he was so busy trying to keep caught up on filling prescriptions, and pt education, that adding that task was too much.

I wonder if these big chains realize how much money they are paying a highly educated pharmacist to administer injections when they could hire MAs/LPNs/RNs for a lot less money. Seems like a very poor use of your time and resources for pharmacists to be pulled away from their normal duties to give flu shots. Just my :twocents:

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Specializes in OB, Women’s health, Educator, Leadership.

Playing devil's advocate, I'm on the side of the original OP just because I think we need to question everything and not take anything for granted because I'm sure they would love to find ways to phase out parts of a nurses job and slowly eliminate the necessity for a nurse. We are a large body of employees and take a huge amount of the hospital's budget. So anytime they "advance" one of our skills onto another's plate I wonder what will be next.

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Specializes in ER.
Playing devil's advocate, I'm on the side of the original OP just because I think we need to question everything and not take anything for granted because I'm sure they would love to find ways to phase out parts of a nurses job and slowly eliminate the necessity for a nurse. We are a large body of employees and take a huge amount of the hospital's budget. So anytime they "advance" one of our skills onto another's plate I wonder what will be next.

This type of attitude baffles me to be honest.

We nurse's are increasingly expanding our scope of practice. We are doing things that used to be in the scope of a doctor. We are now able to literally become APN, CRNA, NP's. We fiercely defend our right to do these things in the backlash of many doc's crying (and their associations) that we are not qualified and we are encroaching on their field.

At the same time, some nurses remain outraged over the increasing skills of MA's, techs, Unlicensed whatevers. It seems to me that some of us want the whole cake, and want to eat it in one sitting.

Pharmacists are incredibly educated, and more than qualified to given an IM.

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My husband is also a pharmacist and anyone with as much knowledge as he has can give me an injection anytime.

As to the future of nursing, let me tell you that after 43 years in this business nursing of today is nothing like when I got out of school and will not be like it is today 20 years from now. Change happens every day in nursing and medicine. If you don't change with it you will be left behind. Education in nursing is a continuous thing. Soon a bsn won't get you much. Just consider all the graduates becoming nurse practitioners. Not all changes are bad things.

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We had a similar concern about me (an LPN) and an RN ambulating a patient this week. The PTA was really upset...in her eyes, we aren't qualified to make sure the patient's gait is proper, he is using the walker correctly, and isn't getting fatigued. I think a lot of areas in healthcare cross over to other areas. I can remember getting my Kindergarten shots from my doctor because the hospital (and therefore the clinic) policy said that a nurse couldn't give injections to anyone under age 6.

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Specializes in LTC Family Practice.

In rural areas we are glad for the Pharm to give the shots...it saves a 30 min+ drive to get them otherwise. Our local non-chain Pharm is owned and operated by a father and now son with a Pharm D and the son gives the shots and with that Pharm D I'm sure he's more than qualified to give a shot.

On side note, my older bro of 70 years recently had complications with a hip replacement and went home with a PICC line and they taught my 70 year old SIL to give the twice daily ABX via the PICC:eek:. What really cracks me up is as an LPN I wouldn't be able to perform the IV push ABX in many states yet my SIL with a quick lesson and an instruction sheet can:confused:.

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