Pharmacists in the emergency department play a crucial role in upfront decision making around medicines for patients presenting with various medical conditions.
Cristina Roman, is the Lead Pharmacist at Alfred Emergency Trauma Centre. In her 12 years working in the Emergency Department, Cristina has established pharmacy services, and filled gaps in patient care with new models of care.
One of those models of care adopted by the US and other countries, is involving pharmacists for critically unwell patients that present to the emergency department.
Through her investigations, Cristina has considered how pharmacy services can impact stroke care, sepsis and trauma outcomes.
Thrombolytic therapy is crucial in ischaemic strokes, as every minute with a blood clot in the brain increases the risk of permanent disability for the patient.
Pharmacists can play a crucial role in identifying patients appropriate for thrombolysis and assisting with the administration of high-risk medications like thrombolysis for stroke patients. This can mean faster thrombolysis to eligible patients, shaping the scope of practice for the emergency medicine pharmacist.
In addition, her studies have also shown the involvement of pharmacists in sepsis calls improves time to antibiotic administration, particularly for patients in ICU care. The evidence has shown better outcomes for the most unwell patients.
Nurses and medical staff at Alfred Hospital are now actively pulling pharmacists into scenarios, highlighting the value and benefit of their involvement in patient care.
This model of care for emergency departments involving pharmacists has gained international interest and is continuing to expand.
Australian Health Journal spoke with Cristina Roman and Lisa Bremner, Advanced Training Resident Pharmacist at Alfred Hospital Emergency Trauma Centre.
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Job-ready clinical trial interns
The Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre Alliance, or VCCC Alliance for short, is a Victorian partnership of 10 research, academic and clinical institutions looking at improving cancer outcomes for patients.
The VCCC Alliance SKILLED clinical trial internships program is a pathway for scientists to build role-specific clinical trial knowledge, experience and in a clinical trials unit through theoretical and on-the-job training. The internship program is a 40 week intensive program to get science student interns job ready for clinical trial assistant and study coordinator internship roles.
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25 years of non-indexation of nuclear medicine impeding access & affordability
The President of the Australasian Association of Nuclear Medicine Specialists (AANMS), Associate Professor Sze Ting Lee spoke with Australian Health Journal about the following:
Usual levels of nuclear medicine services in Australia each year
Current levels of nuclear medicine services in Australia
How changing demographics in people moving to regional areas has impacted access to nuclear medicine services
The nuclear medicine workforce including trainees
The key recommendations from the pre-budget submissionIn the lead up to the Australian Federal Budget in May 2023, Australian Health Journal reached out to peak health industry bodies to hear about their priorities, either noted in pre-budget submissions lodged with Federal Government in January 2023 or in recent forums such as the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce.
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The desire for primary care nurses to do more, be recognised and valued for the work they do
Denise Lyons is a highly experienced nurse with over 40 years in the profession, including more than 25 years dedicated to primary care. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in the United States in 1985 and, in 2012, became an endorsed Nurse Practitioner in Australia. Currently, she serves as a primary care Nurse Practitioner in General Practice in Newcastle, where she is committed to delivering high-quality, patient-centred care that improves the health and wellbeing of her community.
