Hospital Inpatient Pharmacy

The clinical pharmacists and certified pharmacy technicians at Central Carolina Hospital’s Pharmacy serve patients of all age groups, from neonates to geriatrics.

Distributive services include:

• The dispensing of medications and IV solutions to all inpatients, emergency room patients, outpatient surgery patients, and patients undergoing procedures while on the hospital campus.
• A "unit dose" system provides medications individually labeled and dispensed for each patient.
• An efficient automated dispensing system, "Pyxis Profile", is employed through-out the hospital; this technology provides rapid access to medications, while including screening of drug orders by the pharmacist.
• Orders are screened for drug-drug interactions, therapeutic duplications, allergies, and appropriateness of dosage for age and renal function.
• A joint effort of pharmacy and nursing staffs provides patient information on potential drug-food interactions.
• Routine quality assurance checks are conducted to monitor drug storage and expirations.
• Computerized patient medication profiles are prepared for physicians.
• Computerized medication administration records are available for the medical and nursing staff.

Pharmaceutical Care Services include:

• Pharmacists are decentralized to offices on the nursing units to allow face-to-face interactions with patients, nursing staff, and physicians. They assist with patient teaching and pain management.
• A pharmacokinetic dosing service is designed to provide accurate dosing of medications with narrow therapeutic ranges. Pharmacokinetics is the mathematical explanation of drug movement within the body, including absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion.
• A culture and sensitivity review service is designed to provide early recognition of positive results and optimal antibiotic selection.
• A quarterly newsletter is published for physicians and hospital staff to address issues of importance in medication use in the medical literature, as well as recommendations specific to CCH.
• Pharmacists monitor patients to recommend changes from intravenous drug administration to oral dosing when indicated.
• Upon consultation by the physician, pharmacists provide patient teaching services.
• Pharmacists conduct concurrent and retrospective drug utilization review studies.
• Pharmacists provide drug literature evaluation and review in response to drug information questions from the medical staff.
• Pharmacists on the Pharmacy and Therapeutics committee help manage the hospital formulary. The formulary is a list of drugs available at the hospital, based on efficacy, safety, and cost.
• CCH Pharmacists serve as preceptors for students from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Pharmacy, and Campbell University’s School of Pharmacy.