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       #Post#: 269--------------------------------------------------
       NMP shown to be beneficial in Neonatal ICU
       By: kayras Date: May 15, 2015, 10:25 am
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       Pharmacists as non-medical prescribers: what role can they play?
       The experience in a neonatal intensive care unit
       Peter J Mulholland, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Southern
       General Hospital, 1345 Govan Road, Glasgow G51 4TF, UK;
       peter.mulholland@ggc.scot.nhs.uk
       Abstract
       Background Independent prescribing by pharmacists is designed
       to:
       ▸ improve the quality of service to patients without
       compromising patient safety
       ▸ make it easier for patients to get the medicines they
       need
       ▸ make better use of the skills of healthcare
       professionals
       ▸ contribute to the introduction of flexible team working.
       Initial experiences We implemented pharmacist prescribing in the
       neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the Southern General
       Hospital, Glasgow, Scotland, in March 2005. The main barrier at
       the time was the large unlicensed medicine usage, resolved by
       subsequent changes in legislation.
       UK survey of pharmacist prescribing in neonatal units An
       electronic survey received 45 responses. Just under half (47%)
       were prescribers, with 40% being independent prescribers. Most
       were prescribing in NICU or high dependency units (70%). 19% of
       those qualified were not prescribing.
       Benefits of pharmacist prescribing Improvement in safety was
       seen as a benefit of pharmacist prescribing, with potential
       reduction in communication errors and the ability to make timely
       correction of prescriptions.
       Barriers to implementation Many areas reported no barriers, with
       support from both consultants and nursing staff. Lack of funding
       and time to undertake the required training was seen as barriers
       by some.
       Conclusions Non-medical prescribing is intended to encourage a
       team approach to the care and management of patients and to make
       the best use of the skills of trained healthcare professionals
       and pharmacist prescribing is an important addition to the
       healthcare of premature infants.
  HTML http://ejhp.bmj.com/content/21/6/335.short
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