Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (9/6/2012)
Last week I shadowed on the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit which
was really an eye-opening experience into the world of hospital pharmacy.
There are two main areas of hospital pharmacy which include ambulatory
care and acute care. Ambulatory care refers to patients who are able to
ambulate or 'walk'. Patients usually go here when they are leaving the
hospital. Acute care includes areas such as oncology, hematology, pediatric
intensive care unit, neonatal intensive care unit, etc. The pediatric floor has
a satellite pharmacy on the floor to focus specifically on the needs of the
pediatric patients. I really enjoyed this experience because I learned about
how the healthcare team works together to provide the best care for the
patients. During rounds, the medical doctors, medical residents, medical
fellows, nurses, social health worker, and pharmacy resident walked to each
patient's door to discuss the most recent update on the patient and how to
improve the patient's health. Rounding was really collaborative. At
the beginning of my visit I found it tough to see kids being so sick but
towards the end of the visit I saw how rewarding it was to see when some of the
patients had improved outcomes. I look forward to continue learning more about
this area in the coming years.
