Clinical pharmacists improve practice in emergency departments

There are 2 studies in this month’s issue which show the benefits of clinical pharmacy input in the setting of an emergency department (ED). It is a relatively high risk area for drug medication errors as there is a fast turnover of large numbers of patients, the use of drugs which include those with significant toxic effects as well as potentially life threatening impacts, plenty of opportunity of miscommunication and many interruptions to nursing and medical staff whilst carrying out prescribing duties and administrating therapeutic agents.

Clinical relevance of pharmacist intervention in an emergency department

The first study looked at the impact of a clinical pharmacist working between 8 am to three pm Monday to Tuesday over a non-consecutive 6 month period in an ED with over 100 000 attendees per year. There was an electronic prescription system and a short stay facility (for 24 hours maximum).

Severity scales that looked at the drug errors and their potential impact of patient’s well-being, the clinical impact of the intervention by the clinical pharmacist were used …