HELP! Acute Care Rotation in Hospital

[amlodipine1234]

I need help, I'm a current P4 student on rotations. My next rotation is Acute Care at a pretty intense rotation site which starts in 2 weeks and I feel completely unprepared since I have no previous hospital experience (minus a 3week IPPE as a P1). I have emailed my preceptor to see what I should do to prepare in advance but their answer was very generic. Any tips on how to prepare before I'm at my rotation? Good references to review bugs and drugs or any suggestions on commonly seen disease states to review? Honestly, really any hospital and/or acute care based tips would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

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[lane one]

Show up ready to learn and you'll be good. If you want to be able to work-up patients more quickly, buy a sanford guide for all things anti-microbial, get to know lexi and uptodate. Remember, if you plan on working in a hospital, this a great opportunity to network. Even if you don't plan on hosptial, network anyway. It just may save you from CVS hell in the future

 

[PharMed2016]

Acute care = ICU? Review your antibiotics and their coverage, different sedatives, different vasopressors, sepsis protocol, DKA protocol, qSOFA score, ... etc.

 

[mp808]

Acute care = ICU? Review your antibiotics and their coverage, different sedatives, different vasopressors, sepsis protocol, DKA protocol, qSOFA score, ... etc.

Is there a specific pocket guide or textbook you can recommend for a critical care rotation student/resident/pharmacist?

 

[confettiflyer]

Show up ready to learn. If acute care = ICU (it doesn't for me, but I don't know your nomenclature), then review the basics of pressors, sedation, analgesia, and empiric antibiotic treatments for things like HAP/VAP (possibly still referred to as "HCAP").

Aside from that, hang on for a very bumpy ride.

 

[Lnsean]

I need help, I'm a current P4 student on rotations. My next rotation is Acute Care at a pretty intense rotation site which starts in 2 weeks and I feel completely unprepared since I have no previous hospital experience (minus a 3week IPPE as a P1). I have emailed my preceptor to see what I should do to prepare in advance but their answer was very generic. Any tips on how to prepare before I'm at my rotation? Good references to review bugs and drugs or any suggestions on commonly seen disease states to review? Honestly, really any hospital and/or acute care based tips would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

It ain't that serious

 

[Twentytwelve2]

It's not hard. Abx coverage,1st line treatments, monitoring, vancomycin PK, AMG PK, warfarin. That sums up acute care.

 

[KatleyS]

I need help, I'm a current P4 student on rotations. My next rotation is Acute Care at a pretty intense rotation site which starts in 2 weeks and I feel completely unprepared since I have no previous hospital experience (minus a 3week IPPE as a P1). I have emailed my preceptor to see what I should do to prepare in advance but their answer was very generic. Any tips on how to prepare before I'm at my rotation? Good references to review bugs and drugs or any suggestions on commonly seen disease states to review? Honestly, really any hospital and/or acute care based tips would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Be ready to learn and to look up things independently
Look for opportunities to expand your horizons (i.e. do they offer to let you observe a surgery in progress?, do they allow you to follow a respiratory therapist around?, etc - if you see something of interest - ask if you can also shadow)
Don't get behind in your work and your deadlines (easy to do!) If you find yourself falling behind, communicate (i.e. confess) to your preceptor ahead of time. Don't wait till the last week of your rotation!

Acute care sounds like ICU to me, but I know some sites break it down to Acute care I (internal med) and Acute Care II (Critical care). If this is Internal Med, review Anticoagulation, PKinetics of Vanco/Aminoglycoside, Therapeutic drug levels (Dig, phenytoin, etc) at minimum. To be honest, every hospital could be different. I don't know if you're just going to some tiny rural hospital that deals with frozen food landing on someone's foot (actual ED dx I saw) or a tertiary care hospital that deals with exotic diseases. Just be prepared to be a sponge, I guess!

My first rotation was in an ICU as a student so I know what you mean about feeling completely unprepared. However, I did a LOT of reading in the first few weeks or so and tried to understand unfamiliar terms as I go.

Good luck!

 

[Apotheker2015]

Show up ready to learn and you'll be good. If you want to be able to work-up patients more quickly, buy a sanford guide for all things anti-microbial, get to know lexi and uptodate. Remember, if you plan on working in a hospital, this a great opportunity to network. Even if you don't plan on hosptial, network anyway. It just may save you from CVS hell in the future

Download the Sanford app. There is a search function. You'll find your answers faster without all the page flipping.

 

[Abby Atwood]

Is it an emergency department or an ICU? If it's an ICU are there subunits (neuro, cardiac)? There may be a few major disease states that you could focus on. I also was pretty new to inpatient during my first acute care rotation as a P4. Medication reconciliation was a big part of that rotation and retail experience made that component a cake walk. Listen to what other people are saying about preparation, and recognize that your unique perspective is an advantage. During that rotation, there were several interventions I made based on my knowledge of formularies and physical drug products that had a substantial impact on patient outcomes.

 

[CAPharmacist97]

I need help, I'm a current P4 student on rotations. My next rotation is Acute Care at a pretty intense rotation site which starts in 2 weeks and I feel completely unprepared since I have no previous hospital experience (minus a 3week IPPE as a P1). I have emailed my preceptor to see what I should do to prepare in advance but their answer was very generic. Any tips on how to prepare before I'm at my rotation? Good references to review bugs and drugs or any suggestions on commonly seen disease states to review? Honestly, really any hospital and/or acute care based tips would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

have you tried asking for preceptors what they suggest? You can always get the Koda Kimble on Amazon: Amazon product