The Road Beyond Academic Pharmacy Leadership.

Individuals in positions of leadership, of which there are a myriad of these positions in pharmacy education, will experience a transition from this position in most situations. This transition from a leadership position, be it voluntary or involuntary, can be challenging time. It can leave an individual wondering how to either channel their passion to new areas or recognize a new passion for future opportunities.

Development and Implementation of a Multicenter Registry for Resuscitation-Focused Transesophageal Echocardiography.

Study Objective: To evaluate the clinical effect, safety, and clinical outcomes of focused transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in the evaluation of critically ill patients in the emergency department (ED) and ICUs.

Methods: We established a prospective, multicenter, observational registry involving adult critically ill patients in whom focused TEE was performed for evaluation of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), inhospital cardiac arrest, evaluation of undifferentiated shock, hemodynamic monitoring, and/or procedural guidance in the ED, ICU, or operating room setting. The primary objective of the current investigation was to evaluate the clinical influence and safety of focused, point-of-care TEE in critically ill patients.

Report of the 2023-2024 Strategic Engagement Standing Committee.

The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy has long emphasized the value of strategic engagement, recognizing that it is critical to the success of pharmacy education, contributing to the expansion of pharmacy and public health practice, the fulfillment of institutional missions, and the meeting of programmatic needs. The 2023-2024 Strategic Engagement Committee was charged with operationalizing advocacy champions, creating an advocacy resource guide to support advocacy champions in their engagement with diverse public and private stakeholders, offering formal training to advocacy champions in the form of a new connect community and webinar series, and conducting focus groups at the 2024 Annual Meeting to determine strengths of the advocacy guide and opportunities to support advocacy champions further.

Ghosts and Ghosting in Digital Communications.

Ghosting, professionally and personally, occurs when there is an abrupt end to communication between 2 individuals without any explanation or when an individual does not follow through on commitments to others associated with their communication. The increase in the available communication channels and speed at which messages can now be transmitted between individuals is resulting in a greater incidence of ghosting or perceived ghosting in our colleges/schools of pharmacy. The impact of ghosting is the disruption of effective communication and communication strategies that are essential to the development of positive and thriving cultures and subcultures in our institutions.

Shackleton's Successful Failure: Lessons for the Academy.

Leadership is many things. It is fun, exciting, rewarding, and oftentimes, it can be challenging. Those challenges, especially within higher education and pharmacy, have been well documented and the turbulent times are likely to continue.

Pharmacists must take an active role as citizen scientists.

Science is a process by which society advances knowledge of the physical and natural world through observation, experimentation, and testing of theories based on evidence. This process forms the foundation of the biomedical, clinical, and social sciences, which together provide an ever-changing knowledge base for health care professionals, like pharmacists, to use to provide evidence-based care to patients and communities. Yet, despite the essential and integrated application of science to improve health-related knowledge and care delivery, the utility and viability of science itself are under threat.

Recommitting to AACP Engaged Governance for the Common Good: Report of the 50th Anniversary Commission to Reimagine the AACP House of Delegates.

The 50th Anniversary Commission to Reimagine the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) House of Delegates (HOD Commission) was charged to consider and recommend changes to the AACP Board of Directors and AACP HOD regarding a broad range of issues related to the HOD. The 2021-2022 HOD Commission met virtually many times throughout the year as 2 sub-groups and a full commission, using Basecamp for shared documents and timelines, and it provided interim reports to the Board of Directors in November and February. A survey of 2022 delegates was developed and administered; responses from 163 delegates informed final recommendations as described in the report.

Envisioning the Future of Student Success: Report of the 2022-2023 AACP Student Affairs Standing Committee.

Over the past several years, traditional metrics have indicated declining student success within colleges and schools of pharmacy. Though students may be less well-prepared for professional school than in years past, once candidates are admitted to our institutions, we have a responsibility to effectively support their progression through the program. The 2022-2023 Student Affairs Committee was convened to evaluate and advance the construct of student success within Doctor of Pharmacy programs.

Addressing an Uncertain Future With a Culture of Psychological Safety.

Faculty, staff, and administrators in our pharmacy colleges and schools work in well-known organizational structures that form the foundations for cultures and subcultures. The importance of promoting a positive culture and subculture is a frequent discussion in our own institutions and across the academy. However, the impact of these cultures and subcultures on individual and collective success and how they influence inclusion and innovation in our organizations are often not considered in these conversations.

Advancing Systems Citizenship in Colleges and Schools of Pharmacy.

The pharmacy academy works collectively to serve the educational needs of diverse stakeholders by promulgating expectations for professional programs to achieve standards for both practice and professional development. Building systems thinking into the learning process, with its associative benefits to postgraduate preparation and lifelong practice, offers a pathway to achieve this educational mission. The concept of systems citizenship has been suggested as a process for helping health professional students incorporate a meaningful professional identity and responsibly seek out an understanding of the connections between patients, communities, and the larger institutions and environments that affect each.

Reducing Repeat Blood Cultures in Febrile Neutropenia: A Single-Center Experience.

Background: Limited data exist to guide blood culture ordering in persistent febrile neutropenia (FN), resulting in substantial variation in practice. Unnecessary repeat blood cultures have been associated with patient harm including increased antimicrobial exposure, hospital length of stay, catheter removal, and overall cost.

Methods: We conducted a single-center study of adult hematology-oncology patients with ≥3 days of FN.

The Privilege of Providing Patient Care.

Pharmacists are in a unique place to provide care to those in need. The pharmacist is sought after by patients and/or their family members to help them achieve positive health outcomes. The pharmacists providing this care in various practice settings are struggling with issues leading to stress, burnout, and decreased valuation of the profession.

Considering Retention and Curricula in Reframing Pharmacy Enrollment Challenges.

Enrollment in pharmacy education has been a topic of extensive discussions as the number of applications has declined. Some pharmacy programs have either not met enrollment goals or decreased incoming class sizes. This Commentary poses two questions that we must ask ourselves as an Academy.

Minimizing the Reorganization Energy of Cobalt Redox Mediators Maximizes Charge Transfer Rates from Quantum Dots.

Light-induced charge separation is at the very heart of many solar harvesting technologies. The reduction of energetic barriers to charge separation and transfer increases the rate of separation and the overall efficiency of these technologies. Here we report that the internal reorganization energy of the redox acceptor, the movement of the atoms with changing charge, has a profound effect on the charge transfer rates from donor quantum dots.

The effects of avoiding extended antimicrobial drain prophylaxis on Clostridioides difficile and postprocedural infection rates: a 5-year retrospective.

Objective: Postprocedural infection is a consequential complication of neurosurgical intervention. Periprocedural antimicrobial prophylaxis is routinely administered to prevent infection, and in some cases, continued for extended periods while surgical drains remain in place. However, there is little evidence that extended antimicrobial administration is necessary to reduce postprocedural infection, and extended antimicrobials can be associated with harm, such as Clostridioides difficile infection.

Implementation of a Rapid Phenotypic Susceptibility Platform for Gram-Negative Bloodstream Infections With Paired Antimicrobial Stewardship Intervention: Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze?

Background: Implementation of the Accelerate PhenoTM Gram-negative platform (RDT) paired with antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) intervention projects to improve time to institutional-preferred antimicrobial therapy (IPT) for Gram-negative bacilli (GNB) bloodstream infections (BSIs). However, few data describe the impact of discrepant RDT results from standard of care (SOC) methods on antimicrobial prescribing.

Methods: A single-center, pre-/post-intervention study of consecutive, nonduplicate blood cultures for adult inpatients with GNB BSI following combined RDT + ASP intervention was performed.

Synthesis of vulcanite (CuTe) and metastable CuTe nanocrystals using a dialkyl ditelluride precursor.

This study demonstrates that a dialkyl ditelluride reagent can produce metastable and difficult-to-achieve metal telluride phases in nanocrystal syntheses. Using didodecyl ditelluride and without the need for phosphine precursors, nanocubes of the pseudo-cubic phase (Cu1.5Te) were synthesized at the moderate temperature of 135 °C.

Collaborative Antimicrobial Stewardship for Surgeons.

Antimicrobial stewardship efforts that include surgeons rely on healthy and open communications between surgeons, infectious diseases specialists, and pharmacists. These efforts most frequently are related to surgical prophylaxis, the management of surgical infections, and surgical critical care. Policy should be based on best evidence and timely interactions to develop consensus on how to develop appropriate guidelines and protocols.

Assessment of Pharmacy Manpower and Services in New England.

Objectives: This study assessed longitudinal trends in pharmacy staffing and services in the 6 New England states by comparing survey results from 2008 and 2013.

Methods: A validated 32-item survey was mailed in 2008 and 2013 to a random sample of 2000 pharmacists. Each sample represented approximately 15% (2008) and 13% (2013) of the active rosters.

Accidental acute alcohol intoxication in infants: review and case report.

Background: Acute alcohol intoxication in children younger than 18 months old is both rarely documented and rarely fatal. Previous case reports suggest hypoglycemia and faster than normal rates of alcohol elimination found in children with acute alcohol intoxication compared with adults, but data are lacking.

Case Report: A 2-month-old infant presented with a decreased mental status after accidental ingestion of alcohol.

Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education 2013 educational outcomes.

An initiative of the Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education (formerly the Center for the Advancement of Pharmaceutical Education) (CAPE), the CAPE Educational Outcomes are intended to be the target toward which the evolving pharmacy curriculum should be aimed. Their development was guided by an advisory panel composed of educators and practitioners nominated for participation by practitioner organizations. CAPE 2013 represents the fourth iteration of the Educational Outcomes, preceded by CAPE 1992, CAPE 1998 and CAPE 2004 respectively.

Enhancing medical device training with hybrid physical-virtual simulators: smart peripherals for virtual devices.

We introduce a novel platform for medical device training: hybrid physical-virtual simulators of medical devices, combining touchscreen-enabled virtual emulations of real devices with sensorized physical peripherals to enable tactile, hands-on interaction between the trainee, simulated device and standardized patients or mannequins. The system enables objective measurement and recording of trainee performance, including interactions with both the virtual device elements and the physical components, and can include metrics and feedback not available in the real device. The system also includes an integrated wireless signaling device for use with standardized patients.