Counseling class question

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kristakoch

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Hey everybody....I thought I woudl throw this one out there to get some opinions.....I am currently a PS-4 on an amb. care rotation. As part of my rotation I have to procter one room for our counseling class in the PS-2 year. Basically the students get a couple of RXs and have to counsel a "patient" on the drug and I will grade them and give comments back. The class can be fun and it's intersting to motivate people. The LARGE problem that I am having lately is the attitude from the students. THey are starting to lapse into the attitude that " the pharmacist at my store doesn't do this, so why should I" etc. I have tried just about everything; from telling them this is the way we teach poeple this so they CAN go out and do this - to change the way things are done to telling stories on how if you don't counsel about, say a glucose meter, in the first place how you may sit on the telephone for 45+ minutes later trying to explain it to the patient. What other suggestions do you all have?????

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Technically, the offer to counsel is law. Originally, it was required for all medicaid patients but our profession took it as the "offer" to counsel. Also, counseling will help reduce the rate of ADRs decreasing expenses for the patient and health care industry in general.



kristakoch said:
Hey everybody....I thought I woudl throw this one out there to get some opinions.....I am currently a PS-4 on an amb. care rotation. As part of my rotation I have to procter one room for our counseling class in the PS-2 year. Basically the students get a couple of RXs and have to counsel a "patient" on the drug and I will grade them and give comments back. The class can be fun and it's intersting to motivate people. The LARGE problem that I am having lately is the attitude from the students. THey are starting to lapse into the attitude that " the pharmacist at my store doesn't do this, so why should I" etc. I have tried just about everything; from telling them this is the way we teach poeple this so they CAN go out and do this - to change the way things are done to telling stories on how if you don't counsel about, say a glucose meter, in the first place how you may sit on the telephone for 45+ minutes later trying to explain it to the patient. What other suggestions do you all have?????
 
VCU07 said:
Technically, the offer to counsel is law. Originally, it was required for all medicaid patients but our profession took it as the "offer" to counsel. Also, counseling will help reduce the rate of ADRs decreasing expenses for the patient and health care industry in general.
The Federal law says that the patients must be OFFERED to be counseled.
However, in some states like CA, the state law mandates counseling; it says that the pharmacist SHALL counsel all patients. So it really depends on where you practice; so I would make myself familiar with both, the state and federal, laws and if they both conflict, choose the stricter one to avoid being sued.
OP: Tell the students that they are going to be pharmacists and everything they do should ALWAYS be in the best interest of the patient, i.e. must counsel prn. Besides, it does save a heck a lot of time if you educate them in the first place instead of having to do it on the phone, like you mentioned.
 
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I may be wrong but the problem doesn't sound like it's one of refusing to offer counceling, but one of the level of counceling that the students are willing to offer. There's a big difference between doing the very minimum of offering and trying to find out what the patient's needs actually are in order to find solutions.

My solution if you're the grader of the class...the next time someone says something like that they get a zero for the session. Give the entire class a warning though, but follow through. The message will quickly be gotten.
 
I have my final counseling lab on Thursday. We have a list of things we must cover during each mock counseling session. Before class, you are given a list of drugs so you have time to research them. You are performing in front of your classmates and you are also video taped. Along with the grade for the session, you must watch the video and assess your own performance. You receive another grade on how accurate you were at assessing your strengths and weaknessnesses. You receive class participation points when you contribute to the discussion on what each student did well and what points they failed to cover. So, even if you are not called upon, you still must pay attention. All these points are worth more than the final exam.

The counseling we do in this class is not realistic, but in a perfect world we would have 10 minutes to spend with each patient. Everyone in my class takes this course seriously. I'm sorry you're having trouble with your students.
 
Yeah, the class is just teaching the students how to counsel, not about if they can refuse, etc. We are just teaching them how to bring all of the info they learned in class down to a patient's level (which we all know is one of the hardest things to do :) ). For the most part, the PS-2s are very good, it's just the few problem children. I just don't know how to motivate them. I think I will try next time to remind them that they are professionals, and this is a large part of any pharmacy you will be working at.
 
you won't get through to them
my class is this way

we acted like this through our counseling classes...

the fact is.. when you are graded on it you care
 
tell ur students that effective counseling makes for a great conversation tool while getting hammered at a bar..
 
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