A pilot school-based health center intervention to improve asthma chronic care in high-poverty schools.

Objective: To test the feasibility and effectiveness of a multifaceted intervention administered through school-based health centers (SBHCs) to improve asthma control for children in high-poverty schools with not well controlled asthma.

Methods: Students 4-14 years old with persistent asthma were enrolled from three SBHCs. The centers' advanced practice providers received training on evidence-based asthma guidelines.

Mixed-Method Study of Utilizing Portfolios to Document and Assess Co-Curricular Activities: Student and Advisor Perceptions.

Development of professional behaviors must occur in tandem with clinical skills to ensure graduates provide quality care. Portfolios have been widely utilized as a medium to document and reflect on experiences related to professional skills. Students were required to complete a series of co-curricular activities and document them via paper or electronic portfolios, which were shared with their advisors for feedback and review.

Students' perceptions of biostatistics following integration into an evidence-based medicine course series.

Background And Purpose: Student pharmacists are expected to demonstrate an understanding of commonly employed statistical tests. This study describes the integration of biostatistics in an evidence-based medicine course series using a learner-centered model tailored to students' needs and interests.

Educational Activity And Setting: This course series included thirteen two-hour biostatistics sessions focused on interpreting results and critiquing statistical methods.

Pharmacists' Attitudes and Practices Regarding Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis (Tdap) Vaccination in Pregnancy and Surrounding Newborns.

Background: Bordetella pertussis or whooping cough is a serious and vaccine-preventable illness. Despite widespread vaccination in the pediatric population, pertussis still infects approximately 100,000 infants each year in the United States. The purpose of this study was to determine gaps in pharmacists’ understanding, attitudes, practices, and barriers surrounding the tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) vaccination recommendation for patients who are pregnant or planning to come in close contact with infants.

Considerations for Providing Ambulatory Pharmacy Services for Pediatric Patients.

Pediatric clinical pharmacists are an integral part of the health care team. By practicing in an ambulatory care clinic, they can reduce the risk of medication errors, improve health outcomes, and enhance patient care. Unfortunately, because of limited data, misconceptions surrounding the role of pharmacists, and reimbursement challenges, there may be difficulty in establishing or expanding pediatric clinical pharmacy services to an ambulatory care setting.

The impact of pharmacy monitoring and intervention in patients receiving intravenous heparin.

Background Intravenous unfractionated heparin (IV UFH) has a narrow therapeutic index and poses a high risk of bleeding. Objective To determine the impact of pharmacy monitoring and intervention on adherence to and appropriate implementation of IV UFH protocol. Setting A 438 bed hospital specializing in cardiac services.

Asthma Review for Pharmacists Providing Asthma Education.

Asthma is the most common pediatric illness affecting more than 6 million children in the United States. Children with asthma have more frequent office visits and hospitalizations compared with adults. Despite advances in therapies, asthma still has a significant effect on the health care system.

Active learning through a debate series in a first-year pharmacy self-care course.

Objective: To evaluate the usefulness of formal debates in the pharmacy classroom as a way to learn course material and as a tool for developing competency in essential skills including critical thinking, communication, public speaking, research methods, and teamwork.

Design: Debates were incorporated into a self-care course, where students were assigned different debate topics focused on controversial issues. Quantitative analysis was completed to assess debate style learning, knowledge about the subjects presented, and the impact on necessary skills.

Association between caffeine citrate exposure and necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants.

Purpose: The results of a case-control study of the potential role of caffeine citrate therapy in the development of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) are presented.

Methods: Patient records for a 10-year period were reviewed to collect sufficient data to test the hypothesis that newborns treated in a hospital's perinatal intensive care unit for NEC might have had a higher cumulative exposure to caffeine citrate relative to that of neonates of similar postconceptional and postnatal age who did not develop NEC. Ninety-five cases of NEC were identified; each case was matched to a control case by gestational age and birth weight.