Clinical Pharmacy
Clinical pharmacy is an area of pharmacy concerned with the science and practice of rational medication use. Clinical pharmacy is a health science discipline in which pharmacists provide patient care that optimizes medication therapy and promotes health, and disease prevention.
Clinical pharmacy services embrace the philosophy of pharmaceutical care; it blends a caring orientation with specialized therapeutic knowledge, experience, and judgment for the purpose of ensuring optimal patient outcomes.
ROLE OF ALSALAMA CLINICAL PHARMACISTS IN PATIENT CARE:
Alsalama clinical pharmacists’ role extends to cover all inpatient departments. Every day they round in different ward floors taking patients medication history and reviewing their medication regimens.
A lot of advantages and that Alsalama patients gain from such clinical pharmacy practice:
- Better recovery:
Alsalama Clinical pharmacists’ efforts help patient to gain 100% of the medication effect which consequently help him to get better and recover faster.
- Managing critical cases:
In case of critical cases every tiny medication responses may affect patient’s life. Better medication effect achieved by clinical pharmacists may be the margin that saving the patient and keeping him alive.
- Preventing medication errors:
A lot of factors may cause medication errors; intravenous incompatibilities, drug-drug & drug-food & Drug-lab interactions, intravenous incompatibilities, contraindications, precautions and dosage adjustment.
Alsalama clinical pharmacists and through their daily rounds review such factors, dealing with what present and giving the recommendations and guides that ensure the prevention of any medication errors.
- Continuous monitoring:
Adverse drug reaction monitoring, drug allergies review, pregnancy and lactation, therapeutic drug monitoring and monitor patient response to medications in order to ensure maximum benefit and protect patient from undesirable effects or un-expected results.
- Patient education:
Our clinical pharmacists educate patients about safe and rational use of drugs, about their current medication and the reason for changes. They also educate patients on discharge about safe use of ongoing drug therapy, where to obtain further help if needed and how to source ongoing supplies of medication.
ROLE OF ALSALAMA CLINICAL PHARMACISTS IN EDUCATION AND INFORMATION RESOURCING:
- Role with doctors:
Clinical pharmacy team participates in Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) and Medication Error programs; participate in research activities, drug and therapeutic policy development and implementation, and other quality enhancement programs and projects.
Clinical pharmacy team provides doctors with scientifically valid evidence based information and advice regarding the safe, appropriate, and cost-effective use of medications.
- Role with Nurses:
Seeing that unlike other steps the accuracy of medication administration - the “sharp edge” in the medication use process - is verified only by the person administering the drug without the involvement of double-check process, another role for clinical pharmacists has been evolved in improving nurse’s knowledge, skills and attitudes about safe administration practice by providing interactive educative sessions with the goal to minimize administration errors.
- Role with pharmacists:
A comprehensive continuous education service (training programs) is provided to postgraduate and undergraduate pharmacists about the basic clinical pharmacology knowledge they need in different pharmacy branches and qualifying them to be good candidates for clinical pharmacy.
