pharmacists Archives

The Authors’ Own Words: Barriers and Facilitators to Dispensing of Intranasal Naloxone by Pharmacists

Jan 21, 2020 by AMERSA

The Authors’ Own Words:

We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

Barriers and Facilitators to Dispensing of Intranasal Naloxone by Pharmacists

Ludmila N. Bakhireva, MD, PhD, MPH; Adriana Bautista, MD, MPH; Sandra Cano, MA; Shikhar Shrestha, BPharm, MS; Amy M. Bachyrycz, PharmD; & Theresa H. Cruz, PhD

Substance Abuse Vol. 39, Iss. 3, 2018

“This mixed-method study, conducted among New Mexico pharmacists, identified specific barriers and facilitators to dispensing intra-nasal naloxone (INN) and examined the association between these barriers/facilitators and the frequency of INN dispensing. Although New Mexico pharmacists had INN prescriptive authority for over two years and standing orders for more than four months at the time of the study, fewer than half of respondents had ever dispensed INN using either mechanism. One reason for these missed opportunities may be pharmacist concerns about dispensing INN, which were associated with decreased dispensing, even after controlling for other factors. The study also identified that system-level factors, such as supply, reimbursement, type of pharmacy practice, and support from managers, might be important contributors. This study identified a strong need for additional training/education for patients, caregivers, the general public, and pharmacists.”

The Authors’ Own Words: Retention of student pharmacists’ knowledge and skills regarding overdose management with naloxone

Jan 6, 2020 by AMERSA

The Authors’ Own Words:

We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

Retention of student pharmacists’ knowledge and skills regarding overdose management with naloxone

Anita N. Jacobson PharmD; Jeffrey P. Bratberg PharmD; Miranda Monk; & John Ferrentino

Substance Abuse Vol. 39, Iss. 2, 2018

“Substance use disorder education, including information on naloxone, is overall lacking in schools and colleges of pharmacy. As the opioid crisis drives greater inclusion of this content into pharmacy curricula, we compared different methods to deliver naloxone content: didactic alone or didactic plus an objective-structured clinical examination with a standardized patient. Although our findings did not show many statistically significant differences between these groups of student pharmacists, we believe this paper will motivate educators from all health professions to add naloxone instruction to existing SUD curricula and to have latitude incorporating the training as feasible given the knowledge retention and increased confidence among both groups of students.”

The Authors’ Own Words: Interprofessional Prescription Opioid Abuse Communication among Prescribers and Pharmacists: A Qualitative Analysis

Dec 10, 2019 by AMERSA

The Authors’ Own Words:

We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

Interprofessional Prescription Opioid Abuse Communication among Prescribers and Pharmacists: A Qualitative Analysis

Nicholas E. Hagemeier, PharmD, PhD; Fred Tudiver, MD; Scott Brewster, PharmD; Elizabeth J. Hagy, PharmD; Brittany Ratliff, Angela Hagaman, MA; & Robert P. Pack, MPH, PhD

Substance Abuse Vol. 39, Iss. 1, 2018

“Prescription opioid-related default communication behaviors among and between prescribers and community pharmacists were routinely not patient-centered in our study. Hopefully, this qualitative study will inform future work and lead to increased emphasis on communication skill building among prescribers and pharmacists. The extent to which the prescription monitoring program has replaced verbal interprofessional communication was noteworthy, as was the extent to which indirect interprofessional communication occurs via patients. In my opinion, top-notch communication skills are often assumed to be factory installed in health providers. This study indicates we have some work to do.”