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Educating nurses about a hospital's new drugs

Nurse Leader Weekly, September 16, 2005

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A monthly training session may be a good way to educate nursing staff about new drugs added to the formulary, but if drugs are added between those sessions and nurses have questions, they have to wait until the next month to get answers.

Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center in Secaucus, NJ, devised a creative solution to that problem.

If a physician orders a medication that is new to the formulary, pharmacists attach a 3-in.-by-5-in. card with bulleted information points about the medication, says Wren Lester, the hospital's corporate director of performance improvement.

The bright orange cards outline basic information about the drug, as well as any potential side effects, which helps nurses when monitoring a patient's reaction to a new medication, Lester says.

"If a patient reacts to the medication, the nurses don't know if the reaction is expected or not," Lester says.

JCAHO standard MM.2.10 requires organizations to have criteria dictating which medications may be used in the hospital and how to monitor effects of newly added medications, among other requirements.

A new frequently asked question (FAQ) posted on the JCAHO Web site in August addressed the need for organizations to ensure staff are trained on the effects of new formulary medications or have access to appropriate lab tests to monitor the drug.

The cards include a number for staff to call the pharmacy if they have any questions about the medication or need more information, Lester says.

Pharmacists also conduct monthly education sessions with nurses to review any new medication added to the formulary, Lester says, as well as to review any changes to the formulary in general.

Use different communication tools

Fairview and Lutheran hospitals in Cleveland generally make changes to the formulary 10 months per year, says the hospitals' pharmacy director Michael Hoying, RPh, MS. The hospitals do not have a formal educational training session, but they do review pharmacy and therapeutics committee minutes during every pharmacy staff meeting, he says.

The pharmacy also educates staff about new formulary items through a pharmacy newsletter and an online formulary through Lexi-Comp, an online drug database, Hoying says.

The pharmacy will also send out direct communication such as flyers with information such as dosing conversions to staff if a formulary change or addition will affect their work, Hoying says.

Source: Adapted from Hospital Pharmacy Regulation Report (September 2005), published by HCPro, Inc.

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