Evaluation of temperature excursions from USP <659> recommendations during mail transit.

Background: Patients use mail delivery as a convenient alternative to acquiring medications in person. Federal laws require nonspecialty oral medications to be stored at controlled room temperature during distribution; however, no laws or regulations govern temperature requirements for medication transport among patients, which may expose medications to harmful temperature excursions.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate temperature excursions during mail transit based on the shipment method, carrier, and season.

Evaluation of Interprofessional Education on Effective Communication Between Pharmacy and Physician Assistant Students.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS) on student self-perceived competencies and perceptions of interprofessional (IP) communication and teamwork in a clinical case review activity. TeamSTEPPS is an evidence-based curriculum that is used to enhance and support IP healthcare communication.

Methods: A repeated-measures, pretest/posttest study evaluated physician assistant students' and student pharmacists' perceptions of TeamSTEPPS.

Opioid abuse risk among student pharmacists.

Objective: To benchmark opioid abuse risk among student pharmacists attending three northeast pharmacy schools utilizing the opioid risk tool (ORT).

Design: A cross-sectional, anonymous risk assessment questionnaire.

Setting: Three pharmacy schools in the northeast United States.

New Jersey Pharmacists' Perceptions on Performing COVID-19 Testing in Community Pharmacy Practice Sites.

BackgroundPoint of care testing (POCT) for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a major source of its control. On May 13, 2020, NJ pharmacists were authorized to order and perform COVID-19 testing, expanding their role in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to evaluate NJ pharmacists' perceptions on the safety and potential consequences of performing COVID-19 testing within their community pharmacy practice sites.

Addressing the Challenges of Providing Accommodations for Pharmacy Students With Disabilities Across Learning Environments.

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education Standards 2016, schools and colleges are required to provide reasonable disability-related accommodations for eligible students enrolled in a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program. Strategies for providing reasonable and effective accommodations in didactic classrooms have been well defined. In contrast, PharmD programs often grapple with supporting learners requiring disability-related accommodations during skills-based laboratory and experiential learning performance assessments.

Determination of Interrater Reliability of a Universal Evaluator Rubric to Assess Student Pharmacist Communication Skills.

To evaluate the interrater reliability of a universal evaluator rubric used to assess student pharmacist communication skills during patient education sessions. Six US schools and colleges of pharmacy each submitted 10 student videos of a simulated community pharmacy patient education session and recruited two raters in each of the five rater groups (faculty, standardized patients, postgraduate year one residents, student pharmacists, and pharmacy preceptors). Raters used a rubric containing 20 items and a global assessment to evaluate student communication of 12 videos.

Report of the 2018-2019 Strategic Engagement Standing Committee.

Strategic engagement is critical to the success of colleges and schools of pharmacy in expanding pharmacy and public health practice, meeting programmatic needs, and fulfilling institutional missions. The AACP 2019-2020 Strategic Engagement Committee was charged with exploring faculty leadership and development as they relate to strategic engagement, considering challenges and barriers to faculty participation and identifying successes in faculty engagement and opportunities for professional development. The committee reviewed literature and examples regarding strategic engagement across academic pharmacy, with strategic engagement understood as being part of the service mission of academic institutions.

Situation, background, assessment, recommendation (SBAR) technique education enhances pharmacy student communication ability and confidence.

Background And Purpose: The Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation (SBAR) technique is a method that can be incorporated into a professional healthcare curriculum to enhance students' ability to communicate information logically and concisely. This educational research activity was designed to assess the impact of SBAR training on pharmacy students' ability to communicate pharmacotherapy recommendations during a simulated telephone intervention with a prescriber. Secondary objectives were to evaluate the impact of the activity on student self-perception of confidence, potential correlations between prior experience and both performance and confidence, and the activity's overall quality and value.

Development and Implementation of an Advising Program's Meet-and-Greet Session.

Objective: To describe the implementation and perceptions of an advising program's meet-and-greet session on student/faculty interactions.

Design: Student advisees and faculty advisors attended a meet-and-greet program designed to facilitate introductions. Two online surveys evaluating program perceptions were electronically distributed to participants.

Empagliflozin: a sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor for treatment of type 2 diabetes.

Purpose: The pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, clinical efficacy, adverse effects, dosage and administration, and drug-drug interactions of empagliflozin are reviewed.

Summary: Empagliflozin is a direct inhibitor of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2), which acts to lower the renal threshold and increase urinary glucose excretion. SGLT2 is found in the proximal tubules of the kidneys and reabsorbs about 90% of the filtered glucose.

Evaluating the Potential Impact of Pharmacist Counseling on Medication Adherence Using a Simulation Activity.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of counseling in a simulated medication adherence activity.

Design: Students were randomized into 2 groups: patient medication monograph only (PMMO) and patient medication monograph with counseling (PMMC). Both groups received a fictitious medication and monograph.

Stability of cefepime in icodextrin peritoneal dialysis solution.

Background: Icodextrin is a glucose polymer used as an alternative osmotic agent in peritoneal dialysis (PD) solutions. Cefepime may be a suitable antibiotic for the treatment of PD-related peritonitis. The stability of cefepime in icodextrin PD solution has not been examined.