ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: A paediatric cancer ward is a setting where pharmacists participate in direct patient care, acting as coordinators between the patient, caregivers and healthcare professionals. The aim of the study was to develop a Gap Finding Tool to support the setting up of a pharmaceutical care model at a Paediatric-Adolescent Cancer Ward. METHODS: The Standards of Practice for Clinical Pharmacy Services by the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia Committee of Specialty Practice in Clinical Pharmacy (2013), the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (2014) and the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (2014) were used to compile the Gap Finding Tool. The developed Tool was tested for content validity by a panel of experts and subsequently implemented over 2 months. RESULTS: The Gap Finding Tool comprised of nine sections with an average of eight statements each about pharmacy services that should be provided at ward level. For each statement, the rater indicates whether these contributions are provided. When the Tool was implemented at the Paediatric-Adolescent Cancer Ward, four major gaps were identified, namely, absence of a clinical pharmacist, lack of medicines information, vetting of chemotherapy prescriptions by pharmacist with limited access to patient data and lack of pharmacist-input on medicines availability. Processes requiring optimisation included discharge medication advice and documentation processes. CONCLUSION: The developed Gap Finding Tool is an innovative tool which is versatile and can be used in ward or ambulatory clinical settings to identify gaps in pharmaceutical processes and services and compare national or regional practices to international standards.
Subject(s)
Pharmacy Service, Hospital , Child , Adolescent , Humans , Pharmacists , Patient Discharge , Hospitals , AustraliaABSTRACT
This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Background A three-year post-graduate international Doctorate in Pharmacy collaborative course, was launched by the Department of Pharmacy, University of Malta in collaboration with the College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago. Aim and rationale To demonstrate that the professional Doctorate in Pharmacy (i) fits the requirements of a Level 8 degree according to the Bologna process, (ii) helps graduates develop competencies and attributes in proficiency in clinical and professional aspects, (iii) has a research component that provides the right level of abilities to participate in research initiatives and to interpret research outcomes, (iv) enables graduates to obtain leadership characteristics. Approach The unique characteristics of the course were evaluated through an outcomes result-oriented measurement. Leadership aspects were measured through policies and strategies presented by students and graduates. Outcomes i) course is in line with the Bologna declaration, ii) research work shown in the dissertation satisfied competencies required iii) research abilities have been examined through a third party and found to be compliant with acquiring of concepts in the design, carrying out, assessment of outcomes and interpretation of results of the research study carried out by each student, and iv) leadership characteristics were shown by the positions taken up by the graduates and early outcomes from these positions. Conclusion Learning activities enable development of professionals able to merge scientific and practice aspects in the evaluation of innovative therapies, the use of medicines and patient monitoring, and in pharmaceutical policy development and regulation. Leadership positions taken up by graduates point to the acquisition of leadership skills by graduates. Next Steps The authors are happy to extend collaboration for this model to be adapted by other institutions for the curricular development entailed in this programme to enhance and improve an innovative aspect in the evolvement of the pharmacy profession on the international scenario.
