Do any of you have unit-based pharmacists? What exactly do they do? Are they effective?
I'm just curious because our pharmacy situation is getting out of control! We never have the drugs we need in the pyxis when we need them. The pharmacy is responsible for preparing our drips and unless the drug is a vasopressor it will take hours to get (imagine waiting for electrolyte replacement for critically low levels or frantically calling every 10 minutes for Heparin). It's frustrating and I wonder if having a unit-based pharmacist might alleviate some of our issues.
When we have to call in the on-call pharmacist for something that could have (should have?) been ordered earlier, we get in deep doo-doo.
I had to make sure I read that correctly...your hospital has no pharmacy on the night shift? wow. I wouldn't hesitate calling the on-call Rx for new orders. Perhaps if they get bugged enough, they'd give you some coverage.
I had to make sure I read that correctly...your hospital has no pharmacy on the night shift? wow. I wouldn't hesitate calling the on-call Rx for new orders. Perhaps if they get bugged enough, they'd give you some coverage.
It's very unusual for a hospital smaller than about 200 beds to have 24-hour coverage unless they are very specialized. Critical access facilities may even have coverage for only 40 hours per week. Of course, they have to have someone on call.
The hospital where I work has a pharmacist on the med/surg and oncology floors during the weekdays. The main building does not have any satellite pharmacies; they are there to process orders and answer questions. I did it a few times and didn't enjoy it, so I spend my time locked up in the basement. I never personally attended any codes, but that was only because none were called on those floors when I was up there. We do have 24-hour pharmacy coverage.
The hospital where I worked when I was in school was a university facility that now has 900 beds, and had several fully staffed satellite pharmacies, of which several had 24-hour coverage. This hospital did things like burn care, bone marrow transplantation and Level III NICU, and had several other intensive care units.
Our one satellite pharmacy is in the building down the street that houses the psychiatric facility, and is open 15 hours a week.
Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.
Our hospital has 650+ beds and serves more than 700,000 patients a year. We're a level 1 trauma centre, transplant/cardiovascular/neurosurgical/regional referral quaternary care centre and WE HAVE NO PHARMACIST between 2230 and 0800. It's about money. They don't want to pay for a pharmacist on night, so we don't have one.
Our hospital has 650+ beds and serves more than 700,000 patients a year. We're a level 1 trauma centre, transplant/cardiovascular/neurosurgical/regional referral quaternary care centre and WE HAVE NO PHARMACIST between 2230 and 0800. It's about money. They don't want to pay for a pharmacist on night, so we don't have one.
Are you in the United States? JCAHO requires that hospitals that perform cardiac procedures (caths as well as open hearts) have a pharmacist on site 24 hours a day. My hospital's pharmacy was closed from midnight to 6am, until they decided to hire an open heart surgeon and they went to 24 hours about a year before this actually happened. It was all before I started.
Our hospital has 650+ beds and serves more than 700,000 patients a year. We're a level 1 trauma centre, transplant/cardiovascular/neurosurgical/regional referral quaternary care centre and WE HAVE NO PHARMACIST between 2230 and 0800. It's about money. They don't want to pay for a pharmacist on night, so we don't have one.
Wow I think that is terrible. You would think someone would use their brains and decide that you need a pharmacist on site 24/7.
We have a unit based pharmacist during week days during day time hours (I think from about 0700 to 2100). We used to have coverage from 0700 to 2300 on all days. When they cut back unit pharmacist hours in July, we had a huge spike in med errors occur.
I also have the same problem another nurse mentioned about not getting things in a timely manner. For example, I will fax down an order at say 2300 for something that needs to be given ASAP (mag, amiodarone bolus, etc). I will often have to wait up to two hours to get this. I really hate when I need to start a new pressor like Neo or something in the middle of the night, because sometimes we seriously have to wait like 30 minutes to get the bag!
I think my hospital may find that by trying to save $, they are going to spend more in way of morbidity/mortality/error rate/length of stay, etc, due to the fact that there simply aren't enough pharmacists to get us the things we need and to do all the necessary checks without being rushed.
I never personally attended any codes, but that was only because none were called on those floors when I was up there. We do have 24-hour pharmacy coverage.
cvicugirl, BSN, RN
54 Posts
I had to make sure I read that correctly...your hospital has no pharmacy on the night shift? wow. I wouldn't hesitate calling the on-call Rx for new orders. Perhaps if they get bugged enough, they'd give you some coverage.