hospital pharmacists

[pharmgyrl]

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Hi! I'm new to the forum and I wanted to say that your inputs have been very helpful. I'm currently in the process of applying to pharmacy schools. I'm looking at different fields in pharmacy. I was wondering what does a hospital pharmacist do and if they have a lot of patient interaction. Thanks.

 

[Glycerin]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=1700928&postcount=4

This is from the FAQ sticky. 😉

 

[MRBPharmD]

Hi! I'm new to the forum and I wanted to say that your inputs have been very helpful. I'm currently in the process of applying to pharmacy schools. I'm looking at different fields in pharmacy. I was wondering what does a hospital pharmacist do and if they have a lot of patient interaction. Thanks.

I think a pharmacist's role in the hospital depends on 2 main factors: 1. The hospital one works in and 2. The state one works in.
I work in a very progressive tertiary hospital in Washington, where I have quite a bit of freedom to use what I learned. I do all the typical stuff you might expect such as TPNs, warfarin, aminoglycosides, vanco, smoking cessation, etc. I also do tons of PCAs for pts returning from joint replacement surgery, miscellaneous doses, lab ordering (in conjunction with protocols usually), answer questions. This is about 50% of what I do. The other 50% is order entry, checking IVs, and "babysitting." In other words, the part of pharmacy that isn't very rewarding. I do have quite a bit of patient interaction but it pales in comparison to retail. On the other hand, my patient interaction is much more enjoyable then when I worked retail. Some days are fun, some days suck, and some days make me wonder why I got into this field. I guess the same can be said for every other job out there.

 

[tupac_don]

Hi! I'm new to the forum and I wanted to say that your inputs have been very helpful. I'm currently in the process of applying to pharmacy schools. I'm looking at different fields in pharmacy. I was wondering what does a hospital pharmacist do and if they have a lot of patient interaction. Thanks.

Depends what kind of hospital pharmacist you are. If you are working in the central, then no you won't have any patient care. If you are a specialist you can have some patient care, but its typically not necessary. For example you have everything in the chart so you don't really need to go and talk to the patient. Probably the most patient care exposure you will get is if you work in the anticoag clinic, or you work in the Ambulatory setting. Really in hospital you won't get much unless you go out of your way. B/c as a pharmacist you would be answering questions, and yea you would be involved in the care of that patient. But you won't be touching them, manipulating them, talk to them and so forth b/c that is not your job.

 

[Mags]

it really depends on where you work and what area/specialty

i used to volunteer in the post op nursing unit for cardio thoracic.. basically ppl coming out of chest/heart surgery.

they had a pharmacist on 24 hours in a small office on that floor (even though the hospital has a pharmacy on a different floor), and closely monitored patients and interacted with them....