NQV level 2-pharmacy
Poster: roles and responsibilities
Responsibilities of Pharmacy assistant
- To dispense prescription medication and other medical products to patients.
- To count pills, label bottles, prices for preparation of prescriptions for patients.
- Pharmacy assistant also performs administrative duties like answering phone calls, receiving prescription order, and operating cash registers.
- To gather, assess and organize patient information.
- Pharmacy assistant also prepares billing information for medications.
Pre-registration pharmacist
- To advise and counsel patients appropriately.
- To develop competent management, leadership and communication skills in preparation for a future role as a qualified pharmacist.
- He/she deals with complaints from customers promptly.
- To develop knowledge and skills within each competency areas as mapped to GPhC performance standards.
Responsible pharmacist
- To display notices
- To complete and keep the pharmacy record
- To implement pharmacy records
- To ensure the effective running of the pharmacy.
Pharmacy technician
- To prepare reports by collecting/summarizing information.
- To ensure medication is available by delivering medications to patients.
- He/she maintains records by filing physician’s orders and prescriptions.
- To generate revenues by calculating and recording charges.
Similarities and differences between the roles of a responsible pharmacist and a pharmacy assistant
Differences
A pharmacy technician delivers medications to patients while a responsible pharmacist does not.
A pharmacy assistant checks and dispenses a description while a responsible pharmacist does not.
A pharmacy assistant can sell over the counter while a responsible pharmacist ensures the effective running of the pharmacy.
Similarities
Both of them can supervise the pharmacy.
Both ensure safe storage of medicine and other substances.
Both ensure correct and effective record-keeping of the purchase, sale, possession, storage, safekeeping and return of medicines or scheduled substances. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
| Registration with GPhc | Pre-registration pharmacist |
| Sale of OTC medicine | Medicines counter assistant and pharmacy assistant |
| Clinical checking of a prescription | pharmacy technician and pharmacy assistant |
| Disposing of returned medicine | Pharmacy technician |
Task 3- about Sami (safe working practice)
After receiving the tote bottles, Sami should have labelled the six bottles. He should have checked the expiry date of the containers. He should have done so so that during prescription, he would start with the oldest stock.
After spilling of the hot drink, Sami should have worn gloves and cleaned the place. He should have gone ahead to pick the call after which he should have washed his hands.
Sami should have confirmed the name of the patient first. This is to avoid mix up in prescriptions. Sami should have cross-checked the name and identify the patient before dispensing the medicine.
Sami should have taken time to read the prescription and confirm that the dosage is in the normal range for the patient (especially with respect to age and sex). In this case, Sami does not do so. Since he is late and in a hurry, he just picks medicine from the pack and counts each tablet in his hand.
Even though the patient was a regular attendee, Sami should have confirmed what the doctor had written. He should not have accused the patient of writing rubbish; instead, he should have first confirmed the name of the patient. He should not have assumed it is the old patient again. He should then have prepared and labelled items for issue. He should then have recorded the action. The details of the action should include the name and age of the patient, the name and strength of the medicine, the amount issued and the name of the dispenser.
About Sami’s appearance
Personal presentation is essential in maintaining health and safety in a pharmacy as it helps in reducing any form of contamination of the medicine. It is also crucial as it protects colleagues and patients (customers). Health and safety also help to seek new ways of improving health and safety as well as ensuring staff learn from any investigations. Sami should have worn the correct footwear (ensures that one does not trip and cause personal injury). Sami wore sandals which are not recommended because any spillage could injure him. Wearing of protective clothing like gloves and overalls to avoid outside microorganisms being brought into the workplace. Washing hands frequently to prevent contamination of medicines should be considered by the health workers. His appearance makes him look unpresentable. He has dirty uniform, unkempt hair and looks untidy.
Personal presentation and behavior ensure proper handling of equipment and general orderliness of the hospital. Staff should ensure they are tidy, which makes them look presentable, wear a clean uniform (professionalism) and come to work on time (punctuality).
Task 4-hazards and risks
Hazard in the field of pharmacy refers to any potential damage that can harm or cause adverse effects to someone.
Risk, according to pharmacists, is the potential occurrence of the unwanted outcome, as it can be associated with staff and patients or medicines.
Types of Hazards
- Ergonomic- improper arrangement of the workplace
- Chemical- toxic properties of the chemical.
- Biological- bacteria
- Physical- radiation, high temperatures
- Psychosocial- violence, stress
Types of Risks
Needlesticks and sharps injuries
Musculoskeletal injuries
| Hazard | Risk |
| Chemical | Toxic or expired chemicals such as drugs can be poisonous to patients |
| Ergonomic | Misplacement of equipment like needles that can cause injuries to patients |
| biological | causes spreading of diseases. |
| physical | High temperatures interfere with medications as they require to be stored in a cool and dry environment, and this can cause damage to drugs kept in hospitals. |
| psychosocial | Nurses if are stressed can misdiagnose patients and give wrong drugs which can harm the patient. |
How to minimize risk
Musculoskeletal Injuries- keep muscle flexibility and strength.
Needlesticks and sharps Injuries_ give oral medication rather than IV medication, when appropriate also use needleless IV systems.
Biological hazards- Treating of water that may contain bacteria which might cause diseases. Bacteria such as Entamoeba histoytica can be reduced by treating water. Clearing of bush and draining of stagnating water in areas near hospital wards helps to reduce the breeding of mosquitoes this will reduce the risk of patients contracting malaria.
Chemical hazards- expired drugs should be disposed of. All medications should be checked on the labels to identify the expiry date so that they do not administer to the patient.
Why is it important to remain alert to the presence of hazards in the pharmacy workplace?
If you are not alert to the presence of hazards in the pharmacy, therefore you are at high risk of getting impacted by it or get injured. It is essential to remain alert to the presence of hazards since hazards are something with the potential to cause harm. If someone is observant it will minimize the chances of getting hurt by the hazards.
| What is the hazard | Who may be harmed and how | What is done to try to reduce the hazard | High Medium low | Action plan | Action completed |
| Naked electric cable | Staff and patients trip hazard | Electric cables should be coated | medium | Use coated cable | Yes |
| Misdiagnosed of patient | Patient as he may be given wrong drugs | Investigating and diagnosing of patients should be done with in a crucial and professional manner | low | Interrogating the patient well before recommending to any drug | Yes |
| Physical injury | Patients and staff as the may be cut with broken glasses of drugs on the ground or used needles that may not have been disposed well | All used needles and broken glasses should be disposed well | low | Putting buckets in all hospital rooms where used needles and glasses can be dump before they are disposed so that they are not left on the floor | Yes |