Pharmacy nursing success
November 4, 2011
PHARMACY-based nurse
practitioners have “great potential
to ease the burden in primary
care,” according to the outcome of
research conducted by Curtin and
Griffith Universities recently.
The “independently funded”
project, undertaken by Associate
Professor Lynne Emmerton from
Curtin’s School of Pharmacy, and
Sara McMillan from Griffith
University, looked at the roles of
nurse practitioners based in a
number of Western Australian
community pharmacies.
The pair interviewed pharmacists,
pharmacy staff and the nurses
themselves operating as a Revive
Clinic, along with users of the
service in both city and rural
locations.
Consumers said they appreciated
the convenience of a ‘walk-in’
service located at their local
pharmacy, with the option
particularly welcomed by parents of
sick children, shift workers and
those who needed routine repeats
for medicines such as the pill.
The study also identified roles
performed by pharmacists which
were not impacted by the presence
of the nurse practitioner, such as
giving advice abotu medicines,
recommending medicines for
conditions such as coughs and
colds, and taking blood pressure.
“In fact, having another health
professional in the pharmacy for a
second opinion worked both ways,”
said the researchers.
“Pharmacists were able to ask the
nurse practitioner to perform some
tests and observations, while the
nurse practitioner could ask the
pharmacist for specific medicinerelated
information and to check a
person’s prescription record in the
dispensary computer,” according to
the report.
Revive Clinic provides nurse
practitioners under a franchise
agreement to 10 WA pharmacies
and one in NSW.
Nurse practitioners have a
Masters (Nurse Practitioner) degree
and are able to conduct Medicarefunded
services such as ordering
blood tests and X-rays, managing
immunisations, wound dressings
and suture and staple removals.
They’re also able to write
prescriptions for some medications
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