I'm in a pickle and could really use some guidance. I have to make a decision for either a federal hospital job, staffing and projects, or an ambulatory federal job.
I would hate to lose my hospital skills (I have no ambulatory skills, but seems less knowledge base in comparison), but frankly, the ambulatory job sounds better--no verification, less liability from nurse and MD errors blamed on the pharmacist, or more reasonable accuracy, which seems to be universal in traditional pharmacy.
Can you compare and contrast these roles--basically the daily routine of the ambulatory pharmacist to the small community hospital staff pharmacist in the army context?
Do ambulatory pharmacists, which are part of the outpatient pharmacy realm, get routinely called into the outpatient, filling pharmacy? Do these ambulatory pharmacists specifically adjust or prescribe meds via army guidelines in algorithm form, or is there more clinical autonomy? What is an average day of these pharmacists like? How does the dual-boss situation of the MD and the pharmacy director come into play? How are metrics conducted? What types of errors present themselves in ambulatory pharmacy?
Alternatively, what is army small hospital staffing like? The facility has only 1 rph/shift and is a 24 hour facility, mostly babies (but no NICU), mostly day surgeries, some simple ortho, and ED, etc. For its size, it has a lot of residency people with many projects in progress. What is an average day of these pharmacists like? How does the director/manager--staff relationship and/or dynamic situation play out? How are metrics conducted? What types of errors present themselves in hospital pharmacy? Are employees, pharmacy and nursing, more laid back?
In the private sector, every hospital seems to be on pins and needles, worried about missing an error or someone arguing over a vanc trough, order entry issues, etc. High rates of production/verification, etc.
Thank you for your support. Much obliged for any informed information or opinions (e.g., someone familiar with these army roles.)
I would hate to lose my hospital skills (I have no ambulatory skills, but seems less knowledge base in comparison), but frankly, the ambulatory job sounds better--no verification, less liability from nurse and MD errors blamed on the pharmacist, or more reasonable accuracy, which seems to be universal in traditional pharmacy.
Can you compare and contrast these roles--basically the daily routine of the ambulatory pharmacist to the small community hospital staff pharmacist in the army context?
Do ambulatory pharmacists, which are part of the outpatient pharmacy realm, get routinely called into the outpatient, filling pharmacy? Do these ambulatory pharmacists specifically adjust or prescribe meds via army guidelines in algorithm form, or is there more clinical autonomy? What is an average day of these pharmacists like? How does the dual-boss situation of the MD and the pharmacy director come into play? How are metrics conducted? What types of errors present themselves in ambulatory pharmacy?
Alternatively, what is army small hospital staffing like? The facility has only 1 rph/shift and is a 24 hour facility, mostly babies (but no NICU), mostly day surgeries, some simple ortho, and ED, etc. For its size, it has a lot of residency people with many projects in progress. What is an average day of these pharmacists like? How does the director/manager--staff relationship and/or dynamic situation play out? How are metrics conducted? What types of errors present themselves in hospital pharmacy? Are employees, pharmacy and nursing, more laid back?
In the private sector, every hospital seems to be on pins and needles, worried about missing an error or someone arguing over a vanc trough, order entry issues, etc. High rates of production/verification, etc.
Thank you for your support. Much obliged for any informed information or opinions (e.g., someone familiar with these army roles.)
