Improving the management of disruptive behavior and reducing antipsychotic medications in nursing facility residents.

Objective: The objective of this work is to improve the management of disruptive behavior in the nursing facility setting through an interdisciplinary team (IDT) approach to reduce the use of antipsychotic medications in accordance with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services initiative.

Data Sources, Extraction, And Synthesis: The process began with a search and review of more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, government, and association resources that focused on the management of disruptive behavior in older adults. While data were limited to the past 10 years, the vast majority of data reviewed were within the past 5 years.

Credentialing in pharmacy-an overview.

With the job market tightening, pharmacists are looking for ways to increase their attractiveness to employers and demonstrate their clinical knowledge and expertise. Six certification programs for pharmacists are available from the Board of Pharmacy Specialties, while certification in geriatric pharmacy practice is available from the Commission for Certification in Geriatric Pharmacy. More than 15,000 pharmacists have already achieved board certification from one of these programs.

Elevated international normalized ratio values associated with concomitant use of warfarin and ceftriaxone.

Purpose: The case of a patient receiving long-term warfarin therapy who experienced elevated International Normalized Ratio (INR) values on two occasions after injections of ceftriaxone is reported.

Summary: An elderly woman (age, 67 years) with multiple comorbidities who had been receiving warfarin therapy for about 8 years was given an intramuscular injection of ceftriaxone 1 g for the treatment of a urinary tract infection. Four days later, her INR (which had recently ranged from 1.

Introduction to the medication regimen review--part 3.

Part 1 of this series provided an introduction and overview of the medication regimen review (MRR) process (Consult Pharm 2010;25:710-20). In Part 2, a framework for MRR was presented (Consult Pharm 2010;25:778-802). This article reviews and expands on the elements of the MRR framework and provides examples of implementation.

Introduction to medication regimen review-part 2.

Drug therapy is one of a variety of tools used by clinicians to manage symptoms and diseases in patients. To understand the medication regimen review process, it is important to understand the big picture of patient care and how medications fit into this overall scheme. The framework for patient management is known as "the care process.

Introduction to the medication regimen review--Part 1.

The medication regimen review is considered the core activity of the consultant pharmacist. This article, the first in a series of three, will provide an introduction and overview of the medication regimen review. Goals of the MRR will be presented, along with a discussion of the different types of MRR.

Tunable millimeter-wave frequency synthesis up to 100 GHz by dual-wavelength Brillouin fiber laser.

We demonstrate the generation of microwave and millimeter-wave frequencies from 26 to 100 GHz by heterodyning the output modes of a dual-wavelength fiber laser based on stimulated Brillouin scattering. The output frequency is tunable in steps of 10.3 MHz, equal to the free spectral range of the resonator.

Customer assessment of long-term care pharmacy provider services.

Objective: Assess performance of long-term care pharmacy providers on key services offered to nursing facilities.

Design: Cross-sectional; nursing facility team.

Setting: Random phone survey of nursing facility team members.

Perceived value and priorities for nursing facility staff training from consultant pharmacists.

Objective: Identify areas of key interest for training among nursing facility team members.

Design: Cross-sectional; nursing facility team

Setting: Random phone survey of nursing facility health care team

Participants: 540 nursing facility team members (practicing in nursing facilities, interacting with > or = 1 consultant pharmacist): 120 medical directors, 210 directors of nursing, and 210 administrators.

Intervention: Directors of nursing, medical directors, and administrators were asked to rate their interest in consultant pharmacist's provision of 15 training topics.

Gap analysis: assessing the value perception of consultant pharmacist services and the performance of consultant pharmacists.

Objective: To understand the importance of services provided by consultant pharmacists and to assess perception of their performance of services.

Design: Cross-sectional; nursing facility team.

Setting: Random e-mail survey of consultant pharmacists; phone survey of team members.