American Pharmacists Association

About: American Pharmacists Association is a other organization based out in Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Pharmacist & Pharmacy. The organization has 2413 authors who have published 1969 publications receiving 30470 citations. The organization is also known as: APhA & American Pharmaceutical Association.

Midazolam in the reduction of surgical stress: a randomized clinical trial.

Abstract: Objective The objective of this study was to assess the role of midazolam in reducing surgical stress as measured using subjective and objective variables. Study design The study was a double-blind randomized controlled trial. Thirty-eight male patients undergoing surgical removal of third molars under general anesthesia were recruited for this study, each patient was given premedication (midazolam or placebo) and subjective variables (HAD scale) were obtained and objective variables (salivary cortisol samples and vital signs) were collected pre-, peri-, and postoperatively. The salivary samples were analyzed by direct immunofluorimetric assay using the “DELFIA” system. Results There were no significant differences in anxiety between the treatment group and the control group before the administration of the premedication. Following the administration of premedication, the majority of the control group showed high cortisol levels on the day of surgery, compared with relatively low cortisol levels in the majority of the treatment group. A few patients in the control group gave a placebo effect (sedative effect) and a number of the treatment group were unresponsive to the drug. There was a slight drop in the blood pressure and respiration rate with a slight increase in the heart rate in the treatment group; however these results were not statistically significant. The HAD scores were not statistically different between the 2 groups. Conclusion Midazolam has proved to be very successful in reducing anxiety and stress pre-, peri-, and postoperatively with no significant effect on the vital signs of a healthy patient. Salivary cortisol technique is an easy, noninvasive method to assess anxiety and stress level in patients undergoing surgery.

Pharmacists Recovering from Alcohol and Other Drug Addictions: An Interview Study

Abstract: An interview study of 86 pharmacists recovering from alcohol or other drug addiction was conducted to describe their experiences during development of and recovery from the addiction. Patterned after similar studies of other recovering health-care professionals, the study permitted comparisons with these other groups. Many felt inadequately prepared to recognize or deal with warning signs of problems of addiction in themselves or others. Forty-four had been arrested; 45 had experienced unemployment because of drinking or other drug use; 16 lost their licenses. Eighteen reported suicide attempts, 13 by drug overdose. Most reported experiences that are regarded as late-stage events, although 50 had never been subject to board action because of their drinking and other drug use. The use of chemicals interfered with the pharmacists' lives long before they were consciously worried about it. For 18, recovery occurred through the assistance of mutual-help groups alone; others had a variety of treatment experiences. Fewer pharmacists reported addiction to only alcohol than did other health-care professionals. Very few reported addiction to parenteral drugs, a significant deviation from the other groups studied. Pharmacists differed from other groups also in that they were extra scrupulous in reporting acts of dishonesty associated with their addiction, which may make their behavior appear worse than that of the other groups when the opposite may be the case. The profession must begin to answer questions about how recovering pharmacists should be treated, and what the role of professional groups in their recovery is.

An Information Paper on Pharmacist Prescribing Within a Health Care Facility

Abstract: INTRODUCTION In the traditional model of health care, physicians have the authority to prescribe medications, order laboratory tests, and conduct or supervise procedures consistent with a patient’s diagnosis. More recently, prescribing privileges have been extended to other health care professionals, such as nurse practitioners (NP), expanded role nurses (ERN), clinical nurse specialists (CNS), registered midwives, and optometrists. While the roles of some of these health care professionals have evolved to fill gaps in the health care system where physicians are unavailable, most work within a hospital or specialized clinic affiliated with a health care facility. There is a continuing attempt in Canadian health care to contain or reduce costs by reducing patient length of stay in hospital and eliminating inefficiencies and duplication of effort. Pharmacists are increasingly aware that the current process of delivering health care to patients frequently results in drug therapy outcomes that are not as effective, appropriate, safe, or economical as possible and desirable.1-3 They have a responsibility to work toward establishing a better system that could improve the outcomes and cost-effectiveness of drug therapy. It has been postulated that by granting prescribing authority to pharmacists the fragmented and disjointed process of health care delivery could be improved. Improved medication management and continuity of care may be achieved by decreasing the number of steps a patient must take to obtain the optimal medication regimen for their condition.4 It has been argued that if pharmacists truly intend to practise and implement pharmaceutical care, then every pharmacist should be able to maximally utilize their extensive pharmaceutical knowledge by prescribing drugs.5 Having the authority to prescribe medications would facilitate the delivery of more effective pharmaceutical care by some pharmacists. Yet, given the present practice of most pharmacists, it has also been suggested that those with delegated prescribing authority have little advantage over those without it in the overall delivery of pharmaceutical care to patients.6 Currently, many pharmacists in organized health care settings in Canada have some form of authority and responsibility for prescribing. It is important to note that in a survey of Canadian institutions, the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists Task Force on Pharmacist Prescribing found a significant amount of pharmacist prescribing occurring with limited control or regulation7 (see below). This paper is not intended to examine the current state of provincial legislation regarding prescribing authority in Canada. Various degrees of prescribing authority for pharmacists are currently being examined and implemented in a number of provinces (e.g., specially instructed and certified pharmacists prescribing post-coital contraception).

Adverse Drug Reaction and Medication Error Reporting by Pharmacy Students

Abstract: BACKGROUND:The reporting of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and medication errors is the responsibility of all who are involved, particularly pharmacists. Since pharmacists are often privy to information surrounding ADRs and medication errors, it is of utmost importance that they are educated regarding the procedures of reporting.OBJECTIVE:To determine pharmacy students' knowledge of and ability to report ADRs and medication errors.METHODS:A total of 1322 students from 9 colleges of pharmacy were surveyed.RESULTS:The largest group of respondents was fifth-year pharmacy students (38%) followed by third-, fourth-, and sixth-year students (28%, 26%, and 8%, respectively). The majority of students reported learning about ADR and medication error reporting programs via didactic experiences. In comparison, fewer students cited alternative mechanisms of learning, including experiential rotations and work experience. Overall, respondents demonstrated the most experience with MedWatch and the least experience with t...