National Hospital and Health-System Controlled Substances Drug Diversion Prevention & Surveillance Program Assessment Survey - 2021.

Purpose: To present and discuss the results of the National Hospital and Health-System Controlled Substances Drug Diversion Prevention & Surveillance Program Assessment Survey.

Methods: The survey was emailed to 1,529 chief pharmacy officers utilizing the list of directors of pharmacy from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. The survey opened September 15, 2021, and closed October 4, 2021.

Rising to the challenge: Pharmacy residents on the front lines during COVID-19 pandemic.

Purpose: To provide pharmacy residents' perspective on how the department of pharmacy at a large academic medical center prepared and managed the surge in admissions of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), to describe how residents were trained for intensive care unit (ICU) staffing, and to provide recommendations on how residency programs nationally could navigate a second wave of COVID-19 admissions or other disaster response situations.

Summary: The majority of postgraduate year 1 (PGY1) pharmacy residents at the institution were trained for ICU staffing and deployed throughout the hospital to ICU units converted to dedicated COVID-19 ICUs to assist in patient care. The training process included live videoconference lectures about relevant ICU topics and on-site experiences with critical care clinical pharmacists.

A Human Factors Engineering Study of the Medication Delivery Process during an Anesthetic: Self-filled Syringes versus Prefilled Syringes.

Background: Prefilled syringes (PFS) have been recommended by the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation. However, aspects in PFS systems compared with self-filled syringes (SFS) systems have never been explored. The aim of this study is to compare system vulnerabilities (SVs) in the two systems and understand the impact of PFS on medication safety and efficiency in the context of anesthesiology medication delivery in operating rooms.

Cardiovascular Drug Shortages: Predominant Etiologies, Clinical Implications, and Management Strategies.

Objective: To review the literature surrounding the incidence, significance, and management of cardiovascular (CV) drug shortages.

Data Sources: A literature search was conducted using all available indexing databases from January 1996 to August 2013, coupled with assessments of the ASHP (American Society of Health System Pharmacists) and Food and Drug Administration Web sites designated to drug shortages. Data were also gathered through a review of listservs discussing this topic.

Clinical management strategies and implications for parenteral nutrition drug shortages in adult patients.

Drug shortages affect every aspect of patient care, including and especially, nutrition therapy. The purpose of this review is to discuss current parenteral nutrition-related drug shortages, including causes and duration of the disruptions, and provide recommendations for managing specific nutritional shortages that minimize negative patient care outcomes. A general framework for the management of current and future shortages is presented.

Knowledge, skills, and resources for pharmacy informatics education.

Pharmacy has an established history of technology use to support business processes. Pharmacy informatics education within doctor of pharmacy programs, however, is inconsistent, despite its inclusion as a requirement in the 2007 Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education Standards and Guidelines. This manuscript describes pharmacy informatics knowledge and skills that all graduating pharmacy students should possess, conceptualized within the framework of the medication use process.

Bar Code Medication Administration Technology: Characterization of High-Alert Medication Triggers and Clinician Workarounds.

Background: Bar code medication administration (BCMA) technology is gaining acceptance for its ability to prevent medication administration errors. However, studies suggest that improper use of BCMA technology can yield unsatisfactory error prevention and introduction of new potential medication errors.

Objective: To evaluate the incidence of high-alert medication BCMA triggers and alert types and discuss the type of nursing and pharmacy workarounds occurring with the use of BCMA technology and the electronic medication administration record (eMAR).

Screening urine for drugs of abuse in the emergency department: do test results affect physicians' patient care decisions?

Background: Drug abuse is a frequent factor in emergency department (ED) visits. Although commonly performed, qualitative testing of urine for drugs of abuse (u-DOA) is inherently limited in its ability to establish the identity, timing or dose of substances used. Previous studies have demonstrated these limitations, but their designs cannot be used to determine whether the results of u-DOA tests affect physicians' patient care decisions.

Hemodynamic and electrocardiographic effects of short-term Ginkgo biloba.

Objective: To evaluate the immediate and short-term hemodynamic and electrocardiographic effects of Ginkgo biloba (ginkgo).

Methods: Healthy volunteers were randomized to receive ginkgo 120 mg or placebo twice daily for 7 days in this prospective, double blind trial. After at least a 7-day washout period, subjects were crossed over to an additional 7 days of alternate therapy.