Role of Pharmacist - Cody Curtis and Dr Morris - Essay Example

End-of-life or hospice care requires one to take care of all the medication. Pharmacists monitor all kinds of medicine that the patient takes, ensuring their safety. Pain and associated symptoms are the first things to be tackled therefore pharmacists need to provide the right dosage of medicines to the patient to ensure pain management. He ensures the presence of appropriate tools to measure dosages. He is also responsible for the quality of medications and sterility wherever applicable. Moreover, he is also responsible for the detection of side effects. In some cases, he may even prescribe certain medications to tackle pain and other symptoms. In the case of non-terminal patients, the pharmacists’ role is similar except for the fact that the patients are administered curative treatment alongside medications meant to enhance their quality of life.

A hospice pharmacist can assist the doctor incorrectly the identifying all the products needed for palliative care. The pharmacist’s “recommendations are also considered in the therapeutic plan of the patient” (Strickland, pp205).

The pharmacist also educates the nurses and other staff about drugs and updates them on clinical practice guidelines. The pharmacist’s role is to attend meetings of the hospice team and advise them on medication, dosages, and administering routes. They can also suggest alternative or complementary therapies and counsel the staff about the interaction between dietary supplements and complementary therapies. Thus, the pharmacist “educates staff on palliative care pharmacotherapeutic principles (Walker et al, p 512). This educative role of pharmacists is important for both terminally ill and non-terminally ill patients.

Communicating with the patient and the caregivers about the medications is another major role played by the hospice as well as the palliative pharmacist. They ensure that the need for the medications is clearly understood by both the patient and the family members and help get rid of any misconceptions that the family may harbor about drugs such as agonist opiates.

The pharmacist is also an essential link between the patient and the pharmaceutical companies and can help the family financially through patient assistance programs.
However, even after the death of the patient, the role of the pharmacist does not cease. The Pharmacists are responsible for ensuring the safe disposal of all medications that belong to the patient since most of these medications may become harmful to others (American Society of Health-System Pharmacists).In the case of non-terminal patients, this particular duty is not needed but in rare cases, the pharmacist may advise the family as well as the patient upon storing or disposing of certain medications.
Therefore it is very much comprehensible that the pharmacist’s role in caring for a terminally ill as well as a non-terminally ill patient is not only important but also essential because he is responsible for most of the aspects associated with medication.
COMMUNICATION

Cody Curtis, a woman in her 50’s was diagnosed with liver cancer. She underwent surgeries to treat it and was even in a coma for some time. However CAT scan revealed that she had cancer and oncologist, Dr.Katherine Morris broke the heartbreaking news to Cody and her husband. She used both verbal and body signs for communication. She had developed an understanding relationship with the patient and hence discussed Cody’s condition verbally. She informed the couple, that there was no permanent treatment option for it and also presented them with treatment options. Cody, who had always liked to take control of things, did not want her body to decide her fate so she decided to opt for physician-assisted suicide. Dr. Morris’s values clashed with Cody’s wants, yet she looked at the situation from the patient’s point of view and after much support from her family, she decided to lend her support.

Dr.Morris was very good at verbally explaining all that Cody asked for. She explained every medical terminology involved in the process well and even answered questions that occurred in Cody’s mind e.g. what would happen if Cody did not want to treat the symptoms nor use the Die with Dignity law.
Dr.Morris extended full support to the family, often making discussions lighter with words, and was also a great listener, especially when Cody’s family talked about Cody’s life. She communicated with them verbally to make them understand what exactly Cody needed when she decided to “make the choice”. She had been a pillar of strength and support for both Cody and their family, so when Cody wanted her presence during the last few hours of her life, Dr.Morris touched Cody’s hand to communicate her love and assurance. Dr.Morris fulfilled her promise and was present the day Cody Curtis finally took the medication at home surrounded by family. Read More