At The Hospital

What I been up to with the pharmacy hospital experience:

I was able to observe and learn about the new pathology, microbiology and general specimen lab housed within the hospital. The lab is two years old and seems to be one of the most technologically advanced labs in the nation. The lab is about 80% automated with analysis machines and tracks doing much of the work. The lab took care of the hospital's specimens as well as specimens from hospitals and institutions from around the area. The specimens go through the analysis process with bar codes determining their route and final record. The microbiology is slightly less automated as the microbiologist do more of the testing and analysis of pathogen susceptibility. The lab is very efficient with results available within hours rather than the days that other hospitals may experience.

Physicians ordering antibiotics such as aminoglycosides or vancomycin can request that the pharmacy initiate and monitor the antibiotics through pharmacokinetic protocol dosing. The pharmacist entering new orders for antibiotics with special dosing requirements can call the clinical pharmacist to dose the medication. I was in charge of PKS dosing for a portion of the day with some assistance from the residents or pharmacists. I initiated antibiotics that required additional PKS consideration for 4 patients. I had to look into patient profiles for pertinent information such as weight, height, SrCr, age and health status. I also referenced the patient's chart for microbiological labs, any additional scans and physician notes to determine why the patient was requiring certain antibiotics as well as appropriate doses. For certain medications such as Zosyn the severity of the infection was critical, while for medications such as vancomycin or the aminoglycosides the patients SrCr and weight were more critical to take into account.