A Resident-Preceptor Collaboration to Encourage Wellness and Reduce Burnout Amongst Pharmacy Residents.

Pharmacy residents are especially vulnerable to burnout given the professional and personal stressors associated with postgraduate training. Residency programs need to prioritize burnout reduction strategies to support resident health and well-being. This commentary describes a resident-preceptor collaborative approach to encourage wellness and reduce burnout within a large residency program at an academic medical center. Strategies that have been utilized include (1) fostering collaboration among residents and preceptors; (2) assessing resident interests and needs to ensure alignment; (3) leveraging available institutional and community resources; and (4) integrating initiatives within the existing residency program structure. This commentary aims to provide suggestions that can be implemented to address resident burnout for other residency programs, regardless of resource availability.

Anticoagulation Considerations in Liver Disease.

Coagulopathy of liver disease is a complex pathology that may result in thrombosis and/or bleeding complications. Routine laboratory values are not always reflective of the degree of these risks. Additionally, prophylaxis and treatment of venous thromboembolism in patients with cirrhosis require careful evaluation when selecting and monitoring drug therapy for these indications. Therefore, this article aims to provide insight regarding coagulopathy of liver disease, influence on laboratory values, and anticoagulant therapy considerations for critical care nurses assuming care for patients with cirrhosis.

Insulin NPH for steroid-induced hyperglycemia: Predictors for success.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of insulin neutral protamine Hagedorn (NPH) for steroid-induced hyperglycemia and identify factors associated with achievement of euglycemia. DESIGN: Retrospective, single center, cohort analysis. SETTING: Quaternary care academic medical center. PATIENTS: Adult patients with steroid-induced hyperglycemia on combination therapy of an intermediate-acting steroid and once daily NPH. INTERVENTION: The primary outcome was the percentage of patients who achieved euglycemia on day 3 of combination therapy. Patients were divided into euglycemic and dysglycemic cohorts based on the primary outcome. Univariate analysis on baseline characteristics, NPH dose, and steroid dose based on prednisone equivalent dose (PED) was conducted to identify differences between the cohorts. Safety analysis was conducted to detect differences between the two cohorts. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Of 142 patients included in the primary analysis, 50 (35.2%) achieved euglycemia on day 3 of combination therapy. In univariate analysis, patients who achieved euglycemia had significantly higher median NPH dose standardized to steroid dose on day 1 (0.5 units/mg PED [25%-75% interquartile range (IQR) 0.4-0.8] vs 0.4 units/mg PED [0.2-0.8]; p = 0.046), lower median blood glucose prior to combination therapy on day 3 (111 mg/dl [96-160] vs 136 mg/dl [113-198]; p = 0.008), and lower median blood glucose 4 hours after administration of combination therapy on day 3 (147 mg/dl [116-197] vs 190 mg/dl [153-245]; p = 0.003) compared to patients who did not achieve euglycemia, respectively. Hypoglycemia and life-threatening hypoglycemia occurred at similar rates between the two cohorts. CONCLUSIONS: Neutral protamine Hagedorn is a safe and efficacious option for acute care hospitalized patients experiencing steroid-induced hyperglycemia. More aggressive dosing initiation of NPH based on steroid dose may allow for earlier achievement of euglycemia without a difference in hypoglycemia.

An Ambulatory Care Clinic and Community Pharmacy Collaboration to Address Prescription Abandonment.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this research is to evaluate a collaborative workflow aimed at decreasing prescription abandonment. SETTING: A federally qualified health center and a 340B contracted grocery store-based community pharmacy. PRACTICE WORKFLOW: An ambulatory care clinic with an established partnership with a community pharmacy chain identified a need to decrease prescription abandonment rates. A process was developed whereby an ambulatory care pharmacy technician received a report from the pharmacy of prescriptions filled for at least 7 days since the initial fill date and at risk for abandonment at the community pharmacy. The pharmacy technician identified health-system barriers, attempted to remedy any identified barriers, and conducted patient reminder phone calls. Health-system barriers were classified by the following categories: incorrect contact information at the community pharmacy, incorrect 340B copayment, incorrect insurance information at the community pharmacy, and need for prior authorization. EVALUATION: A prospective cohort study was conducted from February 2016 to April 2016 in order to evaluate the effectiveness of this workflow. RESULTS: 551 prescriptions and 350 patients were included in this cohort. Of the 551 prescriptions, 362 had at least one identified barrier that may have led to prescription abandonment. There were 111 health-system identified barriers, and 96 of these barriers were acted upon. Additionally, there were 459 patient identified barriers, and 179 of these barriers were acted upon. When a pharmacy technician was able to identify and act upon at least one barrier, 106 prescriptions (46.9%) were picked-up from the pharmacy. CONCLUSION: From the information gathered in this quality improvement project, operational changes have been implemented at the ambulatory care clinic and community pharmacy as a means to further decrease modifiable health-system barriers that may lead to prescription abandonment.