The life of a hospital pharmacist looks a little different during COVID-19. One example: pharmacists at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Denton are doing their jobs without stepping foot inside patient rooms.
“In order to conserve N95 masks, we are not entering patient rooms while rounding with physicians on our medical staff, but we continue to do desktop rounding in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and are available for consults when needed,” said Rebecca Turner, PharmD, MBA, BCPS, director of pharmacy at Texas Health Denton.
The pharmacy team has adjusted protocols and continues to implement extra safety measures in an effort to keep patients and care teams safe from potential exposure to COVID-19. Pharmacists are still responding to hospital emergency codes but manage to mix IV drips and provide dosage information from the outside of patient rooms.
“We work closely with the hospitalists and intensivists to help provide patients with the most effective and safest medication regimen available,” Turner said.
“Pharmacists are an essential part of our care team and distribute medication not only to COVID-19 patients but to patients throughout the hospital,” said Jeff Reecer, president of Texas Health Denton.
Reecer added that Texas Health pharmacy teams are a trusted resource for physicians on the medical staff and have been working together to help provide reliable, quality care for all our patients as well as maintaining an adequate inventory of critical medication.
“We are relying on each other more than ever to safeguard one another,” said Salman Rahim, PharmD, BCPS, clinical pharmacy specialist at Texas Health Denton.
In addition to medical masks that are worn by all clinicians throughout the hospital, pharmacy technicians are also wearing standard protective gear while working in the pharmacy cleanroom to prevent contamination of IV compounded products. They’re also disinfecting surfaces more often, including workstations, calculators, door handles and Pyxis machines that are used to dispense medication.
Despite the changes, spirits remain positive and these Texas Health pharmacists say they’re ready to help other caregivers in any way they can.
“I continue to be amazed by my team’s servant spirit,” Turner said.
“Even though we’re social distancing, our department is closer than ever,” Rahim added.
By Amanda Uffman • Posted April 16, 2020
