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Ask the Expert: How can I ensure my pharmacy staff is knowledgeable about age-related drug needs?

Accreditation Connection, June 20, 2005

Pharmacists must understand age-specific needs since drug metabolism changes as people grow older. Organs also function differently with age, which affects how pharmacists set dose levels and frequency, says Michael Hoying, the pharmacy director for Fairview and Lutheran hospitals in Cleveland.

1. Prescribing for the ages

If a pharmacist works primarily with elderly patients and the hospital introduces a new drug, he or she must learn how that drug affects those patients, Hoying says. You can regularly update pharmacists during staff meetings, inservices, or through written communication.

The key is to record this training in the pharmacist's personnel file. A matrix format listing the topics covered and the methods used to teach the pharmacist is one of the easiest ways to document this training, Hoying says.

Managers must record all of the methods used-such as observation, testing, feedback, and the number of patient complaints or incidents-to address age-specific competencies. Staff can pass a test but may fail at applying knowledge to actual patient care.

2. Enhancing age-relevant drug knowledge

Pharmacists at Lutheran and Fairview hospitals undergo continuing education (CE) programs and CE credits to staff. The CE credit certificates indicate the age populations-such as neonates, toddlers, adults, and geriatrics-covered in the presentations, Hoying says.

Training should focus on the areas in which pharmacists need to learn more, Hoying says. For example, regarding neonates, he looks at this age group's physiological makeup and how that impacts medication effectiveness.

3. Tie in age-specifics with evaluations

Hoying also uses an age-specific competency assessment checklist for annual staff performance evaluations. The simple checksheet verifies staff skills for each population. Pharmacy department supervisors then identify whether staff members meet age-specific expectations.

The goal is to make available on the hospitals' intranets a competency testing program that's grouped into age-specific categories.

"This way it could be a staff-driven program where people go on the intranet and take a test," he says. "Since everyone has access to the intranet, they just need to sign on and take the test, which goes to their administrator to ensure they passed."

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