An explanatory policy analysis of legislative change permitting pharmacists in Alberta, Canada, to prescribe.

Objectives: This paper provides an explanatory policy analysis of the new legislation which permits pharmacist prescribing in Alberta, Canada: the Pharmacists Profession Regulations (2006) to the Health Professions Act (1999). Its purpose is to provide useful insights for pharmacy regulatory bodies in other jurisdictions internationally that are in a position to pursue similar opportunities.

Methods: A search for government and regulatory body documents related to Alberta healthcare system and pharmacist prescribing was performed.

Efficacy of cleaning products for C. difficile: environmental strategies to reduce the spread of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea in geriatric rehabilitation.

Objective: To review the evidence for the efficacy of products used for environmental or hand cleaning on the rates of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD).

Quality Of Evidence: MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were searched for articles pertinent to the efficacy of cleaning products against C. difficile or studies with outcomes related to rates of CDAD.

Peer-mentoring workshop for continuous professional development.

Objective: To develop a Professional Skills Enhancement Workshop (PSEW) to assist practitioners who require skills training to maintain competency and meet new standards of practice. Participants for this workshop were identified as those pharmacists who completed the peer review assessment process and who did not meet standards of practice expectations.

Design: The full-day workshop consists of a half-day introduction to use of clinical drug information resources and approaches to addressing practice-based questions.