International critical care hospital pharmacist activities

Objective: The role of critical care pharmacists in the United States has recently been documented; however, little information exists about the role of international critical care pharmacists. The objective of this study was to describe the duties and activities of international pharmacists who practice in critical care. Design: Web-based survey. Setting: Hospitals outside of the United States. Participants: International pharmacists with >50% of their time dedicated to critical care. Interventions: An invitation to answer the survey was sent to pharmacists via mail, e-mail or newsletter. Pharmacists were requested to answer based on their current practice. The survey was open from November 2004 to November 2005. Measurements and results: Data were collected on demographics and clinical and non-clinical activities. The final analysis included 168 pharmacists with dedicated critical care responsibilities. Respondents indicated 74.4% attended medical rounds and 54.8% were involved in research. Therapeutic drug monitoring was completed by 72.6% of pharmacists, with the most commonly monitored medications being aminoglycosides and vancomycin. While 41.7% of pharmacists personally dispensed medications, 13% and 8.4% were involved in directly preparing intravenous medications or total parenteral nutrition, respectively. Conclusions: International critical care pharmacists participate in a wide range of activities from attending ward rounds to dispensing of medications. We hope the broad range of pharmacist activities described herein will increase the involvement of the pharmacist in the critical care team worldwide.