Shana Castillo

Brown Bag Simulations to Teach Drug Utilization Review

Objective. To teach drug utilization review (DUR) skills to pharmacy students and assess their abilities and confidence before and after training. Design. Profile reviews and online and live drug-utilization-review activities of increasing difficulty were incorporated into the first (P1), second (P2), and third (P3) years of the Pharmacy Skills Training Laboratory sequence in a doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) curriculum. Assessment. An online survey instrument was administered to gauge how comfortable students were with specific DUR skills before and after the activities. Students’ confidence in performing specific DUR skills improved after completing the activities. Conclusion. Profile reviews, as well as online and live medication reviews, gave students numerous opportunities to practice drug utilization review skills throughout the first 3 years of the pharmacy curriculum. Students’ confidence in performing specific drug utilization review skills improved after the activities. Students’ ability to perform the skills also improved as measured with the developed checklist in section V and VI of the Pharmacy Skills Laboratory sequence.

Sodium oxybate: a primer for pharmacists in the treatment of narcolepsy.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this report is to describe a 57-year-old man who was admitted to a nursing facility for physical therapy. His home medication list included sodium oxybate. This article will provide the pharmacist with a therapeutic overview of sodium oxybate as well as review the unique processes involved with drug acquisition, dosing, patient education, and monitoring. SETTING Community pharmacy, nursing facility pharmacy, consultant pharmacy practice. PRACTICE CONSIDERATIONS Sodium oxybate is the only medication in the United States that has approval for both treatment of cataplexy in narcolepsy and treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness in narcolepsy. Sodium oxybate has many unique properties that cause it to differ from past therapies for cataplexy and excessive daytime sleepiness associated with narcolepsy. CONCLUSION It is important for pharmacists to understand the therapeutic uses of sodium oxybate and to review the processes for acquisition, dosing, and administration to better assist physicians and patients and improve therapeutic outcomes.

Role of pharmacists in the treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness.

The focus of this case is a 78-year-old female who is being referred to an assisted living community following several episodes of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). EDS in the geriatric patient is widespread and is often underdiagnosed and inadequately treated. It can affect an older patient?s quality of life, as well as increasing physical, psychological, cognitive, and mortality risks. There are many different etiologies for EDS including coexisting medical conditions, circadian misalignment, medications affecting the sleep/wake cycle, and psychiatric or psychosocial circumstances. This case illustrates how the pharmacist can help patients with EDS by recognizing symptoms; performing a targeted medical history, sleep history, and medication review; and offering screening with validated tools to refer patients to sleep specialists. There are both pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatment options. The consultant pharmacist is a vital member of the interprofessional health care team and can play a major role in the education, monitoring, and management of EDS.