A tool to assess student performance in a Clostridium difficile infection simulation scenario.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate an evaluation tool to assess student pharmacists' performance in a simulation scenario involving a patient with Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). METHODS: The authors used an expert panel review process to establish content validity of the tool. Four faculty members used the tool to evaluate student pharmacist groups during 2011 and tested a modified version of the tool in 2012. The authors analyzed the results for each year to determine internal consistency and inter-rater reliability. RESULTS: The 2011 tool demonstrated sound internal consistency, but several items had poor inter-rater agreement. The revised 2012 tool demonstrated acceptable internal consistency and good to excellent inter-rater agreement for all items except one. CONCLUSIONS: The tool facilitated reliable assessment of student pharmacists' clinical decision-making during simulation performance involving a patient with CDI.

Desired professional development pathways for clinical pharmacists.

The 2012 American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) Certification Affairs Committee was charged with developing guidelines for the desired professional development pathways for clinical pharmacists. This document summarizes recommendations for postgraduate education and training for graduates of U.S. schools and colleges of pharmacy and describes the preferred pathways for achieving, demonstrating, and maintaining competence as clinical pharmacists. After initial licensure within the state or jurisdiction in which the pharmacist intends to practice, completion of an accredited PGY1 pharmacy residency is recommended to further develop the knowledge and skills needed to optimize medication therapy outcomes. An accredited PGY2 pharmacy residency should be completed if a pharmacist wishes to seek employment in a specific therapeutic area or practice setting, if such a residency exists. Clinical pharmacists intending to conduct advanced research that is competitive for federal funding are encouraged to complete a fellowship or graduate education. Initial certification by the Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) or other appropriate sponsoring organizations should be completed in the desired primary therapeutic area or practice setting within 2 years after accepting a position within the desired specific therapeutic area or practice setting. Clinical pharmacists subsequently will need to meet the requirements to maintain pharmacist licensure and board certification. Traineeships, practice-based activities, and certificate programs can be used to obtain additional knowledge and skills that support professional growth. Pharmacists are strongly encouraged to adopt a lifelong, systematic process for professional development and work with ACCP and other professional organizations to facilitate the development and implementation of innovative strategies to assess core practice competencies.

Use of pharmacy informatics resources by clinical pharmacy services in acute care hospitals.

PURPOSE: The use of pharmacy informatics resources by clinical pharmacy services and the presence of a pharmacy informatics specialist in acute care hospitals were evaluated. METHODS: Two hundred randomly selected pharmacies in general medical and surgical hospitals in the United States with at least 100 acute care beds were surveyed via mail. Survey items gathered information regarding facility attributes, opinions about staff pharmacists' understanding of information technology, and departmental utilization of pharmacy informatics. RESULTS: Of the 200 surveys mailed, 114 (57%) were returned completed. When asked to rate their departments' use of pharmacy informatics, 82% indicated that pharmacy informatics use was good or fair, while 12% considered information use to be optimized. A majority of respondents (60%) indicated that a pharmacy informatics specialist was employed within the pharmacy, with 47% indicating that the specialist was a pharmacist. An overwhelming percentage of these pharmacists received informatics training on the job, and roughly half had specialty positions integrated into their pharmacist job description. No significant association existed between the use of pharmacy informatics and facility teaching status (teaching versus nonteaching), geographic location (urban versus rural), or use of computerized prescriber order entry. Employment of a pharmacy informatics specialist was significantly associated with the use of such informatics applications as database mining, renal-dosing-rules engines, antibiotic-pathogen matching-rules engines, and pharmacokinetic-monitoring rules engines. CONCLUSION: The use of clinical pharmacy informatics in patient care in acute care hospitals with at least 100 beds was significantly more likely when a pharmacy informatics specialist was present in the pharmacy. However, 4 in 10 hospital pharmacies did not employ a pharmacy informatics specialist.