Pharmacist Portfolio Example

A key element of learning is the ability to follow specific instructions carefully.

This portfolio should be completed and submitted at the specified dates for assessment and feedback throughout the module Core Competency in Pharmacy Practice.

This portfolio will be submitted as a final submission electronically on Studynet and all sections should be completed as instructed.

Submit summative coursework electronically by the deadlines specified in the course guide. Do not leave upload until the last minute as sometimes the system can crash or be slow. If you experience any difficulties please email your completed work the module leader immediately to register the problem.

The generic marking criteria used by academic staff to assess your work can be found at the end of the module guide and a blank copy of the feedback form is on the module StudyNet page.

The formative deadline date is for a draft for which you will get feedback prior to the final submission of coursework. The grades and comments will not carry forward to your final grade. Summative coursework is your final submission. For this module it will be submitted via StudyNet and you will also receive your grade and feedback via StudyNet.

Submission dates:

Wednesday 15th November 2017:

Formative submission of portfolio sections 1-3.

Monday 8th January 2018:

Summative (final) submission of full portfolio.

Section 1

Briefly describe your professional background, clinical role and the context in which you have practised and managed patients within your speciality.

Include information on the clinical service and the types of team you have worked in as well as the organization of health services in your country.

Additionally, give an overview of your local patient population and consider the barriers and drivers for patients trying to access your services.

You will be expected where possible to use official sources to support this section

(750 words maximum).

In 2007, I attained one of the greatest milestones in my life, as I graduated as a pharmacist, which was consistent with my dreams and ambition. My first job after graduating was to work at community pharmacy in Jordan. I then worked at Al-Ahmadi Governorate Hospital, which is one of the biggest hospitals in Kuwait, as an intern. The facility was built in 1981, has a capacity of 600 beds, and meant to serve a population of close to 600 000 people, mostly residents of south Kuwait. The internship gave the opportunity to interact with various patients and to develop impeccable skills such as proper dispensing of medication and reporting procedures.

At the end of 2007, I worked at a public hospital in Kuwait. Initially, I worked in an outpatient pharmacy for around one year. My role was based on checking patient information in prescriptions, such as age, prescriber signature or stamp, date of the prescription and medication list and duration of treatment. At that position i gained invaluable knowledge especially on handling allergic reactions, avoiding cross-drug interaction, and common conditions that had could impact the patients condition. The hospital had impressive prescription procedures that certainly worked to eliminate any errors. The pharmacy technicians had the sole were responsible for the any form of prescriptions, which then rechecked by more qualified pharmacist responsible for dispensing the medication and counselling the patients on the correct use of the drug. Working in such a high-powered environment with more experienced workmates enabled me to develop both social and professional skills.

After this internship, I was asked to join inpatient pharmacy (the main pharmacy) dealing with admitted patients. The pharmacist role in the inpatient pharmacy starts in the morning by checking the unit dose medication (oral, ready-made IV medication) of all patients admitted to the hospital by comparing medications to patient medicines listed in the computer records. In case any problems arose for the newly admitted patient, it was my responsibility to stop that order, create an incident report, and inform the admission department and the head nurse in charge of that patients ward, to resolve issues without delaying patient dosage or any operations. For the already admitted patients and those that were to be transferred to a different, we worked as a team to double-check information. We also undertook comparisons between the medication list of the patient in the drug chart with the computer and updated records with changes in the medication or doses. All of these duties required thorough attention to detail. The pharmacists then ensured that the drugs were organized and supplied, sent by the pharmacy aid in advance to prevent any probable delays to maintain patient treatment and to maintain patient safety. Each pharmacist in the team for covering around three to four wards at the hospital, depending on their level of experience. The expertise needed in this particular role include but not limited to writing drug monographs, working as drug information providers by attending to the queries from the patients and the health care professionals, and double-checking of the Parenteral Nutrition (TPN), IV Fluid, or any medication such neonate inotropes doses, which need to be calculated before preparing it in the IV room. Working in this demanding environment, I developed my knowledge and skills across a broad area of competencies, including working to deadlines, attention to detail, communication skills, and team working as well as acquiring a more in-depth knowledge of treatments.

I also spent time working as one of the three pharmacists in the causality pharmacy. We were responsible for covering causality area. Furthermore, monitoring narcotic patients doses, by recording on a card for each dispensing prescription. This pharmacy taught me about the importance of paper-based backup information systems for patients admitted to the hospital, in any case of computer problem or disaster. The other role I had was for ensuring that doses were given on time and to handle any emergency, especially for critical care unit such as ICU. Furthermore, I was responsible for monitoring room and refrigerator temperature, maintaining safe conditions for treatments.

This hospital was one of the largest hospitals in Kuwait, under the Ministry of Health, which covers a broad range of medical specialists and is comparative to another hospital. It offered free services for patients and for anyone in the case of an emergency such as car accident or drowning. It is located in a strategic area, covering the biggest west region of Kuwait.

Evidently, the hospital relies on tall organization structure. The main reason is that such a structure is a pre-requisite for precision and the execution of high quality services at any given time of the day. The vertical organization structure ensures that the professionals have a system of accountability, as the staff discharge narrow and role specific responsibilities. Additionally, the various management levels ensure that a mistake by a single person is easily mitigated without throwing the system into deep disarray. It permits the accomplishment of tasks in an exact, efficient, and correct manner.

At the top of the management team are the directors since the hospital operates like a company. The directors are responsible for strategic decisions and the overall running of the facility. The executives are normally responsible for the execution of the decision by the directors. To this end, they supervise the other professionals. The chief executive officer reports directly to the board of directors. The hospital had various people professionals such as the chief nursing officer, the chief medical officer, the chief pharmacist, and chief information officer who bear a lot of weight in term so responsibility. The next level of management is the Department Administrators that report to the core management. The administrators are responsible for the operational or the medical services. The next are the patient care managers that are directly responsible for overseeing the patients. These included the pharmacists and the nurses. Finally, there are the service providers that also consist of nurses, the pharmacists like myself, and the physical therapist who make direct contact with the patients.

Section 2

Choose a drug treatment option for a clinical condition relevant to your speciality (e.g. insulin for diabetes). Select a clinical guideline and a policy which are relevant to this (this could be from the UK, European or WHO policy or equivalent).

Briefly provide an overview of your chosen clinical guideline and related policy document and provide justification for your choice.

Finish this section by presenting a summary of the key content of each (clinical guideline and policy) in table form using the template provided.

Title of policy or guideline Author(s) and reference Summary of key points

(750 words maximum)

In England, the management and treatment of psychological illness forms critical aspects of National Health Services (NHS) (Fonagy, 2016). The 2010-2015 UK government policy on the mental health services reforms considers that poor health is a primary cause of disability among its populations (Great Britain, 2010). The government has set out deliberate actions that prioritise mental health with the NHS having well-established NICE framework for the treatment of mental illness. Depression is one of the mental health complications common among people in the UK hence the need to form a proper policy and action plan for its treatment (Fonagy, 2016). The relationship between depression and mental diseases implies developing a seamless operational efficiency between the UK national health policy and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines (Great Britain, 2010).

I chose to assess Depression as a mental illness and its treatment because of its prevalent in Kuwait. There are various recorded cases of depression causing retardation and death. Also, career practice has exposed me to the challenges of dealing with depressed people. Some of these depressed people were the elderly who often had social problems that was further exacerbated by alcohol and cardiac diseases.

The UK government policy on the mental health is an elaborate one that entails definite steps of identifying people in danger, assessing their needs, prioritising their most presenting conditions and treating them. The policy provides for the increase in access to better health services, integrating mental health into the national measures of population wellbeing and increased funding of the sector with the aim of attaining improved universal access to mental health services (Great Britain, 2010).

According to the NICE guidelines for treatment and management of depression, there are various options of interventions for depression. First, it is important to reassess the people suffering from depression before starting any treatment or management. This approach is essential since evidence-based practice in medical care dictates that each patient has a unique response to an illness that must be targeted for better outcomes (Sturmey & Hersen, 2012). For instance, some depressed patients may have their conditions resulting from either work of familial networks.

In a case where a patient has the risk of suicide resulting from family or work-related stress, one of the initial steps is to resolve the stressors through linking the patients with appropriate professionals. The professionals subject the patients to a period of two weeks monitoring after which NICE recommends that they are treated with antidepressants in case they fail to receive the psychological intervention. The drugs used include quetiapi...