Evaluation of an Interprofessional Team Training Program to Improve the Use of Patient Safety Strategies Among Healthcare Professions Students.

Purpose: To assess whether our introductory TeamSAFE (Team Simulation and Fearlessness in Education) program improved student knowledge of effective teamwork skills; impacted their perception of their own teamwork skills and preparedness for teamwork in clinical practice; and augmented their understanding of the roles and responsibilities of different healthcare team members.

Methods: Students completed an online learning module, then attended a simulation-based workshop to practice patient safety and teamwork skills. A pre-post-test design was used to assess knowledge of TeamSTEPPS® concepts and perception of teamwork skills among 959 students from 7 health professions.

Intravenous Fluid Management in Critically Ill Adults: A Review.

Topic: This article reviews the management of intravenous fluids and the evaluation of volume status in critically ill adults.

Clinical Relevance: Intravenous fluid administration is one of the most common interventions in the intensive care unit. Critically ill patients have dynamic fluid requirements, making the management of fluid therapy challenging.

Management of Infection.

Clinical Relevance: (formerly ) infection is among the most identified causes of health care-associated infections in US hospitals and remains a major public health problem. The incidence and severity of infection are high among critically ill patients. Treating critically ill patients is challenging; treatment failure is especially common because of comorbidities and the continued need for antibiotic therapy for other infections.

Student perceptions of the impact and value of incorporation of reflective writing across a pharmacy curriculum.

Introduction: To assess student perceptions regarding the impact and value of incorporating written reflection across a pharmacy curriculum.

Methods: Throughout the first three years of the pharmacy curriculum, students use the "What, So What, Now What" format to write 18 reflections within five didactic and six experiential courses. For the 93 students in the class of 2015, individual course evaluation questions measuring perceptions of the impact of reflective writing on their achievement of curricular outcomes were analyzed.

Dabigatran-Associated Intracranial Hemorrhage: Literature Review and Institutional Experience.

Dabigatran etexilate is an oral direct thrombin inhibitor approved for prevention of stroke and systemic embolization in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation and for the treatment of venous thromboembolism. Although dabigatran has a favorable safety profile, predictable pharmacokinetics, fewer drug interactions than warfarin, and does not require monitoring, clinical data regarding dabigatran reversal are limited. In addition, currently available laboratory assays allow measurement of the presence, but not extent, of dabigatran-associated anticoagulation.

A Required Online Course with a Public Health Focus for Third Professional Year Pharmacy Students.

Objective: To design, deliver, and evaluate the impact of a required course on student knowledge acquisition and ability to evaluate contemporary public health issues.

Design: A 2-credit course was implemented using asynchronous, online delivery. Learning activities included literature retrieval and assessment, analytic writing, quizzes, and creation of a group wiki evaluating a current public health issue.

Probable Interaction Between Warfarin and Banana Flakes Supplement.

Purpose: To describe a case of subtherapeutic international normalized ratio (INR) associated with concomitant use of warfarin and banana flakes in a patient with diarrhea.

Summary: A man in his 30s was hospitalized for an elective procedure, but his stay was complicated by cerebral venous thrombosis requiring intravenous infusion of unfractionated heparin, ventilator-associated pneumonia, bacteremia requiring broad-spectrum antimicrobials and percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube placement, and diarrhea. Eventually, the heparin was transitioned to warfarin.

Osteonecrosis of the jaw in patients receiving intravenous or oral bisphosphonates.

To identify potential risk factors for the development of osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) in patients receiving bisphosphonates, we conducted a MEDLINE search. We identified 44 English-language published case reports and case series describing 481 patients with bisphosphonate-related ONJ. Our review of these reports indicated that ONJ occurs more frequently in patients receiving intravenous bisphosphonates (453 patients [94.