Pharmacy viewpoint in news stories

[alex]

For want of a better title, I was frustrated that having read this news story, firstly I was amazed to ever come across this stuff again, which we covered in some obscure "alternative and mind bending drugs" lecture (Well the module title was something like that). Secondly, why do they, and its not just the BBC guilty of this, decide to get a nurse to explain the dangers of "amphetamines on underlying heart conditions."

I know this is nit-picking more than just a bit, but whenever there is a story in the news about a new drug being developed, or controversy with guidelines, they always appear to ask a GP, who amazing as they may well be, aren't best placed to comment.

Anyone ever read badscience?
This sums up my thinking on why health and science in general are so poorly reported by the media.

[admin]

Alex

Thanks for the two very interesting links. The first point, that nurses are seen as more knowledgable then pharmacists to give advice on drugs, is something you are just going to have to get used to I'm afraid.

When I worked in a hospital, during my first week I overheard a ward sister talking to a patient, about to leave the ward to go home, about their take-home medication. She was giving such awful advice, that I honestly thought she was just making up the answers to the patients questions rather then simply saying "I don't know but I'll find out". I walked over, politely introduced myself, and asked if they would like my help.

The patient started asking me the same questions about their medication, and I gave the correct advice. The sister just "tutted" and stormed off. This confused me because I thought as the pharmacist for her ward, she would know I was the resident "expert" on medication. I was after all the ward pharmacist. She didn't speak to me for the next two years! If I asked for keys to the drug trolley, CD cupboard etc, she'd pretend she didn't hear me, then when I started to ask again start shouting at me.

I have since of course met many individuals like this, be they nurses, ward clarks or Dr's receptionists. I guess they just don't know, what they don't know - if you see what I mean. At your age I felt quite insulted that somebody with literally no qualifications or somebody with a HNC could possibly have the view that they knew more about drugs then me, when I had done a full science degree studying virtually nothing but drugs! And the media, as you have found out, also believe they know more about drugs then me. I used to see giving out advice on drugs as my job, and thought it was awful that people would give patients advice that was not only incorrect but often dangerous.

Now I guess I'm just used to it, as it happens so often. I just go to work, do my best, do my part correctly, and go home. At the end of the day it's just a job and not really that important in my life. It's no good getting upset over it.

Just my opinion

[Linnear]

On a different track but the same branchline:

My wife goes on several different message boards and waded into an argument. (She was a pharmacy assistant for 12 years)

A nurse/midwife wanted to know whether to report her local pharmacy because she had been in the queue and had heard the counter assistant give susch bad advice she had had to step in.
When the pharmacist was called he had a go at the nurse/midwife for being rude to his staff.

The advice that was wrong was:

Yes you can give Calpol and Sudafed together!

Whereas the nurse knew that Sudafed contains Paracetamol!


I find that nurses are the bane of my life. They tend to think that as they go out to see people that they are much more worthy than me and should therefore be able to walk though the door jump the queue of people already waiting for scripts and get whatever they want whether they have a Rx or not.
They also tend to tell people that they'll order a Rx and then forget or just generally give bad advice.


Back on track:

I think the problem is that no-one sees pharmacists as anything other than pill pushers.
The multiples are all on an MUR push at the moment and the number of times that you hear, "What does the pharmacist know about the tablets?" is unbelievable.

There is another thread on this board about the Pharm Soc elections which discusses pharmacists in the public eye. We are not seen as professionals so why interview a pharmacist on the news?

[Steve G]

The problem with the nurses is that there are bloody loads of them and they have a very strong and PR savy representative body, which we lack. They also seem to have a bit of the brain missing (or perhaps it's drilled out of them during their training) that says 'listen to other professionals recomendations'. Here's an article that is quite worrying: http://nhsblogdoc.blogspot.com/2006/...r-alert-6.html

[admin]

Originally Posted by Steve G

The problem with the nurses is that there are bloody loads of them and they have a very strong and PR savy representative body, which we lack. They also seem to have a bit of the brain missing (or perhaps it's drilled out of them during their training) that says 'listen to other professionals recomendations'. Here's an article that is quite worrying: http://nhsblogdoc.blogspot.com/2006/...r-alert-6.html

Steve

That's a great blog article, and a very good example. Please don't get me wrong, I am not anti-nurse. What I am is anti anybody trying to make decisions on something they do not have a clue about. I am happy to include myself in this, and am always saying to patients "I am 99% sure I know the answer to this, but just let me check it out for a couple of minutes to be 100%". I would always rather check something out then guess, or believe what a patient is telling me, or give a Dr the benefit of the doubt.

The problem with nurses is that there seems to me to be a big variation in knowledge, intelligence and qualifications. Some I know are just glorified cleaners/waitresses, yet some have a great clinical knowledge.

Off subject, but a good example I have just thought of when I worked in the hospital. I once went into the cardiac ward, and was looking at all the monitors with people's ECG's on. One of the staff nurses walked up to me and asked what I was looking at. I told her I was trying to remember what parts were what on the ECG from Uni. I was thinking about the SA node, PQR (or is it QRS) peak increasing in angina exercise tests, how to spot tachycardia, flutter and fibrillation (A or V) and stuff like that (that I can't remember now, and have probably got wrong!) and just said to her "I'm trying to remember the significant peaks, and which parts they relate to." Her reply was "well it shows your ticker doesn't it". I asked her a question, along the same lines as the ones I was thinking about, and she just had this stupid blank look on her face. Basically all she knew was it showed your heart, and if it was flat you were dead!

Anyway back to the post. Why don't we start doing a blog? I know it's easy to do your own, but if we all add ours together it would give people a good idea what we all do, and also the students. We could just put a few lines once or twice a week in a blog, and write about the significant things we have dealt with during the week.

What do ya'll think? Anyone up for that?

[kemzero]

Admin

..had a patient come in to tescos pharmacy requesting some pholcodine linctus 500ml ,the pharmacy assistant referred him to me, on questioning the guy,he said his nurse told him its a good remedy for diarrhoea as one of the side-effects of codiene is constipation......

[Steve G]

Originally Posted by admin

Anyway back to the post. Why don't we start doing a blog? I know it's easy to do your own, but if we all add ours together it would give people a good idea what we all do, and also the students. We could just put a few lines once or twice a week in a blog, and write about the significant things we have dealt with during the week.

What do ya'll think? Anyone up for that?

Sounds like a good idea. I'll be a bit snowed under over the next few weeks, preparing for the registration exam (29 days and counting), but after that I'd be happy to contribute. Any ideas for a name?

[admin]

Originally Posted by kemzero

Admin

..had a patient come in to tescos pharmacy requesting some pholcodine linctus 500ml ,the pharmacy assistant referred him to me, on questioning the guy,he said his nurse told him its a good remedy for diarrhoea as one of the side-effects of codiene is constipation......

Hell.......I have never heard of that one! I won't bother going into it - it's just an example of someone knowing 0% about what they are giving advice on!

[admin]

Originally Posted by Steve G

Sounds like a good idea. I'll be a bit snowed under over the next few weeks, preparing for the registration exam (29 days and counting), but after that I'd be happy to contribute. Any ideas for a name?

Ok good luck with the studying Steve. It would be good if you could put some pre-reg stuff on it later on maybe?

Shall I just start a forum and call it "Pharmacy Blog" or something like that?

[Zoggite]

Originally Posted by Steve G

Any ideas for a name?

How about "Tablog"? (Can you tell I need a holiday?!?)