Clinical Pharmacist - Ambulatory Care

About This Role

This full-time clinical pharmacist position focuses on ambulatory care, ensuring the safe and proper use of medications and providing expert information to healthcare professionals and patients. The role involves identifying, preventing, and resolving medication-related problems within the Northwestern Medicine system.

Responsibilities

• Interpret medication orders to ensure safety and proper use of medications, checking for compatibilities, incompatibilities, duplication, allergies, and potential administration errors
• Coordinate the resolution of medication-related problems between pharmacy, nursing, and prescribers, demonstrating initiative and sound judgment
• Monitor medication therapy for significant drug-drug, drug-diet, or drug-laboratory test interactions
• Intervene in circumstances of significant interactions, therapeutic duplications, and other occasions where pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetic expertise is warranted
• Evaluate and document that selected medications are appropriate for achieving the desired therapeutic outcome
• Communicate potential problems and likely solutions to the prescriber
• Act as a consultant in the areas of pharmacokinetics and adverse reactions to physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals
• Participate in all therapeutic drug monitoring or intervention programs, adjusting therapy as indicated by patient condition and laboratory results
• Process all medication order information into the Electronic Health Record to ensure accuracy of records regarding past, current, and future dispensing and charging
• Maintain a comprehensive pharmacy patient profile, including age, maturation, weight, allergies, diagnosis, estimated and actual pharmacokinetic parameters, and pertinent information affecting medication therapy decisions
• Oversee the packaging, labeling, and distribution of medications for all patients and employees according to established policies, procedures, and guidelines
• Monitor the use of scheduled medications on the nursing units and maintain controlled inventories of medication in the dispensing areas
• Compound and dispense pharmaceuticals including sterile products, chemotherapy, and parenteral nutrition products
• Verify medication orders before delivery to patient care areas and ensure accuracy and completeness
• Resolve discrepancies as necessary
• Review all laboratory data for appropriateness of medication use and recommend changes when needed, including microbial culture and sensitivity data, toxicology, therapeutic drug monitoring, etc.
• Develop and present orientation, education, and training programs for medical, nursing, hospital, and pharmacy staff
• Assist in the education of pharmacy students, residents, and fellows