ICU model for pharmacists, developed by Rutgers and RWJBarnabas Health System improves care for critically ill patients through intensive clinical training to Critical Care Pharmacist Team (CCPT). This enables them to give complete range of patient interventions previously limited to the critical care specialists.
Many ICUs include a team of general practice pharmacists, supplemented by one who specializes in critical care. Typically, only the specialist can respond to such complex, ICU-specific issues as determining whether a delirious patient needs to switch medications. But when the specialist is not on duty, patients often have to wait longer for that expert care, according to the study published in the Journal of Clinical Outcomes Management.
Intensive Care Unit Acquired Weakness (ICUAW)
Intensive Care Unit Acquired Weakness (ICUAW) affects critically ill patients on prolonged ICU stay, which is associated with significant morbidity and mortality.
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Lead researcher Liza Barbarello Andrews, a clinical associate professor at Rutgers University's Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, developed a solution at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton, where she is the sole critical care pharmacy specialist.
The new model, believed to be the first of its kind, produced notable results: The overall quality of pharmacy services provided to patients improved. All pharmacists who underwent the training reported feeling comfortable and confident in providing the specialized levels of care, along with a greater sense of professional satisfaction. Other members of the ICU staff, including physicians and nurses, also reported improvements in pharmacy care, including a consistent, high level of care even when the specialist was not on duty.
"Before we tried this model, the non-specialty pharmacists in the ICU were often uncomfortable with clinical issues, which sometimes meant going to the bedside to assess the situation. As a result, relatively minor issues were frequently escalated with a call to the specialist, who was not always readily available," Andrews said. "Our new model effectively empowers all of our pharmacists to act as specialists."
Andrews said the new model was adopted without significant cost and should therefore benefit other community-based hospitals with limited resources.
Source: Eurekalert
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