Burns in the Elderly.

Burns in the elderly are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Frailty is an important indicator of patient health and physiologic reserve. Comorbidities and typical age-related changes significantly impact the outcomes of elderly burn patients and decisions made during their burn care.

Evaluation of Patient Adherence to Vaccine and Screening Recommendations during Community Pharmacist-led Medicare Annual Wellness Visits in a Family Medicine Clinic.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services initiated annual wellness visits (AWV) to reduce healthcare costs and improve preventive healthcare for beneficiaries. Provider time constraints and varying preferences to perform AWVs have limited its clinical implementation in some areas, affording pharmacists an opportunity to expand their role. To evaluate patient adherence to pharmacist recommendations for vaccinations and preventive screenings in an annual wellness visit service at a family medicine clinic in northeast Mississippi.

Pharmacists' perceptions of pharmacy technician occupational values.

Background: Pharmacy technician scope of practice has expanded in recent years to attempt to alleviate the responsibility burden placed on pharmacists in some states. However, little research has examined the ways in which pharmacists attempt to persuade technicians to take on additional roles. Management literature has identified the importance of understanding employee values in crafting persuasive role expansion messaging.

The impact of pharmacy benefit managers on community pharmacy: A scoping review.

Introduction: The introduction of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) within the United States healthcare system occurred with the aim to decrease costs and increase quality. News media and legislation have painted a picture of decreased pharmacy competition and potential negative impacts on patients and their access to affordable medications.

Objective: The objective of this scoping review was to evaluate the current research literature examining the impact of PBMs on the finances of community pharmacies.

College student behaviors and preferences in community pharmacies.

The primary goal of conducting this research was to gain insight into what characteristics of a community pharmacy college students may find appealing and how community pharmacies can tailor their services toward college students. The survey was distributed to 3,000 college students at The University of Mississippi from various schools and majors across campus. A total of 188 students participated by completing questions from the survey.

The Report of the 2021-2022 Professional Affairs Standing Committee: Resource Guide for the Integration of Clinical Pharmacy Faculty in Professional Practice Settings.

The 2021-22 Professional Affairs Committee was charged to (1) Develop a resource guide for member institutions and faculty regarding payment for the practice-related activities of pharmacy faculty; (2) Nominate at least one person for an elected AACP or Council Office; and (3) Consider ways that AACP can improve its financial health. This report describes the methodology and content utilized for the development of an online resource guide for member institutions, faculty, and practice sites regarding the integration of clinical faculties' patient care services into patient care settings, including models for payment and value-based payment structures that can be utilized to support the practice-related activities of faculty. The committee offers a revision to a current association policy statement, a proposed policy statement as well as recommendations to AACP and suggestions to colleges and schools of pharmacy pertaining to the committee charges.

Strategies for establishing and using genome resource banks to protect genetic diversity in conservation breeding programs.

Genome resource banks (GRBs) have the potential to preserve the genetic diversity of a species over time, yet they are rarely utilized as effective components of conservation breeding programs. Advances have been made in reproductive biology, collection and storage techniques, and use of stored gametes for achieving successful reproduction, but there are few guidelines for integrating GRBs into established breeding programs. Here we present basic guidelines, focusing on strategies for the collection, maintenance, and use of semen GRBs for protecting genetic diversity.

The Impact of Leadership Program Formatting on Perceived Development Within Pharmacy Cohorts.

To assess the impact of variable leadership development program formats on perceived participant growth. In 2020, the Phi Lambda Sigma national office began offering national Leader Academies to members, while University of South Florida Health Taneja College of Pharmacy simultaneously offered a Leader Academy program to its Phi Lambda Sigma students. Both programs used virtual leadership development tools from GiANT Worldwide, but differed in meeting frequency, content focus, and participant diversity.

Change in Student Pharmacists' Perceptions and Confidence of Pediatric Related Topics After Participation in Pediatric Pharmacy-Focused Skills Laboratory.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the impact of a pediatric pharmacy-focused skills laboratory on student pharmacist confidence and comfort with pediatric topics.

Methods: This study compared student responses on a questionnaire completed both pre- and post-lab. The lab activities included pre-readings, a pre-lab lecture, and a 2-hour laboratory session.

Barriers and best practices related to documentation of electronic care plans: A survey of community-based pharmacies in 4 states.

Background: The provision of enhanced services within community-based pharmacy is increasing. However, an opportunity remains to improve efficient documentation of services, and barriers to implementation exist. Electronic care (eCare) planning is the act of using health information technology to submit a pharmacist eCare plan for a patient encounter, similar to a Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan note.

Teaching Palliative Care in Surgical Education.

Without training in how to identify and relieve pain and suffering, surgeons miss opportunities to offer palliative services to patients. Despite explicit calls for expanding palliative care education since the 1990s, palliative care training in surgical curricula is often limited to end-of-life discussions. A growing consensus among palliative care experts suggests that formal palliative care education during surgical training should include structured communication and prognostication tools, strategies for symptom management, and an understanding of palliative care specialists' role in treating patients at all disease stages.

Overcoming Past Perceptions and a Profession-Wide Identity Crisis to Reflect Pharmacy's Future.

The profession of pharmacy has come to encompass myriad identities, including apothecary, dispenser, merchandiser, expert advisor, and health care provider. While these identities have changed over time, the responsibilities and scope of practice have not evolved to keep up with the goals of the profession and the level of education of practicing pharmacists in the United States. By assuming that the roles of the aforementioned identities involve both product-centric and patient-centric responsibilities, our true professional identity is unclear, which can be linked to the prevalence of the impostor phenomenon within the profession.

Insurance Adjudication Simulation Across Multiple Institutions and Levels of Learners.

A virtual educational innovation was designed and implemented to have student pharmacists simulate insurance processing. This article describes the impact of this third-party payer simulation on student knowledge and confidence and reports student perceptions of the activity. First-, second-, and third-year pharmacy students (P1, P2, and P3 students, respectively) at four institutions completed the self-paced simulation.

A Modified Delphi Involving Laboratory Faculty to Define Essential Skills for Pharmacy Graduates.

To define essential skills for Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) graduates that are needed in the four most common sectors of pharmacy practice as determined by expert faculty who instruct within pharmacy skills laboratories. A three-round Delphi method was used to establish consensus. In the first round, participants were asked what skills were needed by students at entry to practice in community, health-system, ambulatory care, and managed care pharmacy settings.

Use of regional analgesia and risk of delirium in older adults with multiple rib fractures: An Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma multicenter study.

Background: Single-center data demonstrates that regional analgesia (RA) techniques are associated with reduced risk of delirium in older patients with multiple rib fractures. We hypothesized that a similar effect between RA and delirium would be identified in a larger cohort of patients from multiple level I trauma centers.

Methods: Retrospective data from seven level I trauma centers were collected for intensive care unit (ICU) patients 65 years or older with ≥3 rib fractures from January 2012 to December 2016.

Applying the zoo model to conservation of threatened exceptional plant species.

Maintaining a living plant collection is the most common method of ex situ conservation for plant species that cannot be seed banked (i.e., exceptional species).

Surgical Palliative Care Education.

Surgical palliative care education is in increasing demand to meet the needs of a growing geriatric population. Multiple accrediting agencies for undergraduate and graduate medical education require that students be trained in end-of-life care. These requirements, however, have resulted in didactic curricula that are implemented in various degrees with uncertain levels of success.

Public perceptions of naloxone use in the outpatient setting.

Introduction: Naloxone has become an important component of preventing deaths from opioid overdose. Although studies have confirmed its cost-effectiveness, naloxone is rarely prescribed proactively in case of accidental overdose. The perception still exists that a reversal agent may enable patients with opioid use disorder to continue abusing opioids without fear of death from overdose.

First Responder knowledge, perception and confidence in administering naloxone: Impact of a pharmacist-provided educational program in rural Mississippi.

Objective: In July 2017, Mississippi passed House Bill 996, which permitted first responders to carry naloxone and required training before administration. There is no standard training offered in Mississippi for first responders. The purpose was to evaluate the change in first responder knowledge, perceptions, and confidence in administering naloxone after pharmacist training.

Elderly patients presenting to a Level I trauma center with Physician Orders for a Life-Sustaining Treatment form: A propensity-matched analysis.

Background: Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) forms are portable medical orders documenting patient treatment preferences in an acute health decline. It is unclear how these forms are used in the management of elderly trauma patients.

Methods: Patients 65 years and older presenting to a Level I trauma center were identified between 2012 and 2017.

10 years of laparoscopic common bile duct exploration: A single tertiary institution experience.

Introduction: Laparoscopic common bile duct exploration (LCBDE-LC) or ERCP plus laparoscopic cholecystectomy (ERCP-LC) represent minimally invasive choledocholithiasis treatments. We hypothesized that LCBDE-LC has a shorter length of stay (LOS) and lower charges than ERCP-LC.

Methods: Charts were reviewed for all LCBDE-LC or ERCP-LC for choledocholithiasis from 2007 to 2017.

Conservation and Genetics.

Humans are responsible for a cataclysm of species extinction that will change the world as we see it, and will adversely affect human health and wellbeing. We need to understand at individual and societal levels why species conservation is important. Accepting the premise that species have value, we need to next consider the mechanisms underlying species extinction and what we can do to reverse the process.

Palliative Care and Geriatric Surgery.

Although many seniors cite maintaining independence and a desire to die at home as health priorities, admission to the ICU and the use of invasive procedures are common near the end of life. Palliative care aims to relieve pain and other symptoms to maintain the highest quality of life for the longest period of time, but surgical patients are less likely to be referred to palliative care than patients with chronic medical conditions. Meeting the palliative care needs of elderly surgical patients requires early recognition, advance care planning, and multidisciplinary interventions that align patient goals with possible outcomes.