The hospital pharmacy consists of various departments depending on the setup of the hospital pharmacy. Generally, the Head or the Director of the Pharmacy Services has to ensure that the pharmacists functioning in different areas carry out their assigned functions and duties efficiently and is aware of his responsibility towards its staff on the one hand and the hospital administration on the other. The following are the area-wise functions and responsibilities of the personnel working in the department.
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| Fig. 1: Organizational Structure of Hospital Pharmacy |
Inpatient or Indoor Pharmacists Responsibilities
Central Dispensing Area
• To ensure that all drugs are stored and dispensed
correctly. To have control of drugs stored and supplied from his section.
• To check the accuracy of the dosage prepared
especially of intravenous admixture and other extemporaneous products ordered.
• To keep proper records and preparation of bills for
patient’s medication and maintain a record of all drugs used or issued from his
section.
• To coordinate the overall pharmaceuticals needs of
the “patient care” and ensure that all laws and rules applicable to his section
are followed properly.
• To communicate with all pharmacy staff regarding new
development in the area.
• To ensure that new personnel in his section are
properly trained in the policies and procedures of the central dispensing
area.
• To coordinate the activities of the area with the
available staff to make the best possible use of the personnel and
resources.
Patient Care Areas (Wards,
Operation Theatres, and other Departments of the Hospital where Drugs of
Special Categories are Used)
• To maintain contact with nurses who are involved in
the drug administration to the patients in their charge. A pharmacist also
communicates with nurses and physicians concerning medication administration
problems and periodically inspects the medication area in the nursing units to
make sure that adequate levels of supplies are maintained.
• Review drug administration in each patient
periodically to ensure that all doses are being administered and recorded
accordingly.
• To provide instruction and assistance to the junior
pharmacists as needed in dealing with difficult patients and new
procedures.
• To coordinate overall pharmaceutical services on the
running unit level and also ensure that the junior pharmacist keeps unit
medication areas neat and orderly.
Direct Patient Care Area
• Identification of drugs brought into the hospital by
the patient.
• Obtaining the patient's medication history and
communicating all the information to the attending physicians.
• To assist in the selection of drug products and
their identities. He also assists physicians in selecting dosage form patterns
and schedules and assigns the timing for the drug administration.
• To monitor the patient’s total drug therapy for
effectiveness or ineffectiveness, side effects, toxicities, and allergic drug
reactions.
• Counseling patients on medication which are to be
self-administered in the hospital.
General Responsibilities
• To provide in-service training and education for
pharmacists, pharmacy students, nurses, nursing students, physicians, and medical
students.
• To provide information regarding drugs to physicians, nurses, and other health care personnel.
Outdoor Pharmacists Responsibilities
These responsibilities are again divided into three
categories; they are almost similar to the ones described in the earlier
section.
Central Dispensing Area
• Proper techniques are used in extemporaneous
compounding.
• Correctly maintaining prescription files.
• neatly keeps the outdoor pharmacy.
• Provides adequate record keeping and billing concerning
patient’s medication.
Patient Care Area
• To periodically inspect the medication areas on the
nursing unit and to make sure that they always keep adequate supplies with
drugs and other articles required.
• To identify drugs brought into the clinic by the
patient and record the patient’s medication history and communicate the same to
the concerned physician.
• Monitoring of drugs as explained earlier.
• To counsel the patients on the proper use of their
medication and prepare the medications for intravenous administration.
General Responsibilities
• To coordinate overall pharmaceutical needs of the outdoor service area and exercise adequate control over such drugs.
• To ensure that all drugs are handled and stored
properly.
• To participate in cardio-pulmonary emergencies.
• To provide in-service education and training for
pharmacists