Clinical Pharmacist - Oncology

Department Overview

The purpose of this position is to provide the services of a licensed pharmacist which includes the responsibility for the safe and proper distribution and use of medications in inpatients and outpatients who range in age from neonates, infants less than one year of age, children and adolescents ages 10-18, adults ages 19-65 and the elderly over age 65.

 

This position is to function at higher decision making and accountability levels regarding medication therapy, proactively affecting medication use by making recommendations at the time prescribing decisions are being made or, in some cases, making independent decisions about medication therapy in cooperation with other healthcare team members. Additional services provided include facilitatation of medication reconciliation, discharge counseling, and medication delivery through coordination of care from admission to discharge. The pharmacist must possess strong communication skills for patient education and work collaboratively with inpatient and outpatient interdisciplinary teams including but not limited to providers, nurses, case workers, pharmacists, and technicians, as well as, the teaching and precepting component of students, interns and/or residents.

 

This is a flexible model where coordination of care for the patient as he/she transitions from one aspect of the medication use system to another is integrated with traditionally centralized functions, such as order entry/verification. This coordinated care model will continue to evolve as part of an integrated decentralized patient care practice. This position may be responsbile for rotating through several work sites which may include, but not be limited to Research Pharmacy and Inpatient Adult/Pediatric Hematology/Oncology units.

Function/Duties of Position

• Identifies, resolves and documents complex therapeutic problems, demonstrating advanced knowledge and application of this knowledge to aspecific patient population.

• Interprets and evaluates prescriber's orders and for accuracy, completeness and appropriateness. Documents activities of clinical decision or medication distribution issues that are not in line with the standard of practice, require follow-up, or continued monitoring/evaluation. Verify the accuracy andappropriateness of medications prepared and dispensed from the pharmacy

• Assists in the reconciliation of medications, education of patients regarding their home medication regimens, and coordination of the discharge medication plan with the interdisciplinary team. Documents activities in the patientmedical record.

• Monitors therapeutic response and adverse effects of medications to guide drug therapy. Consults with provider when questions or problems are identified and documents activies in the patient medical record. Appropriatelyreports all adverse drug reactions, drug defects, and medication errors.

• Responds accurately to requests for drug information from prescribers, nurses, patients and patient's families; independently reviews and interprets theliterature and applies this information to specific patient care situations.

• Assists in the development of treatment guidelines to be used in patients with specific diagnosis. Documents activities in the patient medical record, pharmacy monitoring profile, drug use evaluation data collection or adversedrug reaction reporting program.

• Influences standards of therapy by forming peer level relationships withprescribers and is recognized as the authority on mediations in their practice area by prescribers, nurses and pharmacists.

• Participates in both intra and interdepartmental education programs; participates in the development of peers.

• Supervise the activities and assume responsibility for all duties being performed by technicians, students, interns, and residents and monitors andevaluates their performance.

Required Qualifications

• BS in Pharmacy or Pharm.D. PLUS Practice Residency/Equivalent Experience or Specialist Certification(BCPS, BCOPS, etc)
• Inpatient hospital pharmacy practice: Ability to meet the pharmaceutical care needs of the following patient care types: Acute care, psychiatric, rehabilitiaion, skilled nursing, long-term care, obstetric, oncology, chemically dependent, HIV, home care, hospice.
• Demonstrates the ability to:
  • Enforce pharmaceutical care principles safely and accurately
  • Make age-related modification of drug therapy
  • Make disease-related modification of drug therapy
  • Evaluate medical literature
  • Work independently without minimal direct supervision
  • Handle multiple tasks and frequent interruptions
  • Communicate effectively both formally and infomrally, including presentations Project manage