Critical Care Pharmacist - Relief

Department Overview

The purpose of this position is to provide the services of a licensed pharmacist which includes the responsibility for the safe and proper distribution and use of drugs in inpatients and outpatients who range in age from neonates, infants less than one year of age, children and adolescents ages 10-18, adults ages 19-65 and the elderly over age 65. This position is to function at higher decision making levels regarding drug therapy, proactively affecting drug use by making recommendations at the time prescribing decisions are being made or, in some cases, making independent decisions about drug therapy in cooperation with other health team members.This is a flexible model where traditionally centralized functions, such as order entry/verifications, will become part of decentralized practice as the technology associated with patient care evolves.

Relief employees must be available to work at least four (4) days per pay period as determined according to the department needs

Function/Duties of Position

• Identifies, resolves and documents complex therapeutic problems, demonstrating advanced knowledge and application of this knowledge to a specific patient population.

• Responds accurately to requests for drug information from physicians, nurses, patients and patient's families; independently reviews and interprets the literature and applies this information to specific patient care situations.

• Monitors therapeutic response and adverse effects of medications to guide drug therapy. Consults with provider when questions or problems are identified and documents activies in the patient medical record. Appropriately reports all adverse drug reactions, drug defects, and medication errors. 

• Supervise the activities and assume responsibility for all duties being performed by technicians, students, interns, and residents and monitors and evaluates their performance.

• Influences standards of therapy by forming peer level relationships with attending medical staff members; is recognized as a drug authority in their practice area by physicians, nurses and pharmacists.

• Assists in the development of treatment guidelines to be used in patients with specific diagnosis. Documents activities in the patient medical record, pharmacy monitoring profile, drug use evaluation data collection or adverse drug reaction reporting program.

• Interprets and evaluates physician's orders and prescriptions for accuracy, completeness and appropriateness. Documents activities of clinical decision or medication distribution issues that are not in line with the standard of practice, require follow-up, or continued monitoring/evaluation. Verify the accuracy and appropriateness of medications prepared and dispensed from the central pharmacy.

• Other Duties as Assigned

Required Qualifications

• BS in Pharmacy or Pharm.D. PLUS PGY-1 Practice Residency or Specialist Certification (BCCCP, BCPS, etc)

• A current Pharmacist’s license issued by the Oregon State Board of Pharmacy.

   

Job Related Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (Competencies):

• Ability to meet the pharmaceutical care needs of the following patient care types: Critical Care, acute care,emergency medicin, psychiatric, rehabilitiaion, skilled nursing, long-term care, obstetric, oncology, chemically dependent, HIV, home care, hospice.
• Demonstrates the ability to: Enforce pharmaceutical care principles safely and accurately
• Make age-related modification of drug therapy
• Make disease-related modification of drug therapy
• Evaluate medical literature

Preferred Qualifications

• PGY-2 Specialty Residency
• Specialist Certifications (BCPS, BCCCP, etc) Vaccination certification Teaching Certificate ACLS/BLS certification

Additional Details

The pharmacist will experience competing demands from nurses, physicians, pharmacy staff and other healthcare professionals, as they attempt to influence clinical decision-making, clinical policies and practices and work flow. The pharmacist must deal with intense situations on a daily basis. In addition, within the healthcare setting there can be significant lack of control over the work pace, with frequent interruptions (work is often dictated by external factors) that may lead to mental fatigue or stress.

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