16 PHRM3101/PHRM3102 Aged Care Placement

Purpose

The purpose of the Aged Care activity is to provide:

• Insight into the medicine management challenges within residential aged care facilities;
• Opportunity to talk with residents; and
• Opportunity to shadow an aged care onsite pharmacist (ACOP) and/or other healthcare professional(s) from an allied health or medical background (only if they are present during your placement).

Learning outcomes

• Describe the medicine management processes at the aged care facility.
• Identify the challenges staff of the facility encounter in the medicines management process.
• Discuss potential roles and responsibilities of pharmacists in the residential aged care context.
• Discuss the roles of other healthcare professionals within the context of the multidisciplinary care in residential aged care facilities (RACF).

Placement Structure

The Aged Care placement experience is a hybrid learning opportunity that involves a mandatory one-day workshop at UQ to prepare students for a one-day onsite visit to a residential aged care facility under the supervision of an ACOP.

Pre-workshop

Before attending the mandatory one-day workshop, students are expected to read and be familiar with the aged care resources available on course Ultra sites.

One-day Workshop

The mandatory one-day workshop will be held at the Dutton Park Campus and will include a brief assessment at completion.

Activities at the Aged Care Facility

Medicines management

During your aged care site visit, you will have an opportunity to observe the medicines management process and roles of pharmacists. Some things for you to consider that might help you are listed below; note this is not an exhaustive list and some could be achieved through the workshop activities.

• Who is the pharmacy that supplies medicines to the nursing home?
• How are medicines obtained when a new medicine is started?
  • Also consider what happens if they run out of a prescription for a regular medication, what does the pharmacy/aged care facility/doctor have to do?
  • What happens if a resident’s medication is changed??
• What IT system does the aged care facility use and what functions does it provide around the medicines supply and administration, if any?
  • Is it linked to the pharmacy supplier or general practice?
• How are medicines administered and their administration recorded.
  •  Are electronic medication charts used or paper charts?
• Who can administer and prepare injectable medicines vs oral medicines?
• What happens to medicines that have been stopped or for a resident who has passed away?
• Are there residents who self-medicate? If so, could you talk with one or two of these residents about their experiences with medications.

You might discuss with the staff that you are covering urinary tract infections this semester at University and ask them if they have any policies around antibiotic use for UTIs or in general across the facility and if they could tell you how UTIs effect residents, e.g. behavioural, cognition.

Meeting residents

Where possible, ask staff to facilitate engagement opportunities with some of the residents and discuss with them their experiences with their medicines in the residential aged care facility.

Shadowing an ACOP 

During your onsite visit you will have an opportunity to:

• Experience the process of Medicines Management Review (MMR) with an ACOP supervisor
• Attend an ACOP led education session
• Observe/discuss Medication Advisory Committee (MAC) meeting, where possible
• Ask questions about (de)prescribing in Aged Care presentation

If you have an opportunity to shadow/engage a different member of the healthcare team who are either on site or during external visits to deliver patient care, ask them questions about their roles and responsibilities. Some examples to help you are listed below; note this is not an exhaustive list.

• How would you describe the role you play in caring for the residents?
• What do you consider the biggest challenges in enacting your role?
• How and when do you collaborate with others in the care team?
• How do you talk to residents who have cognitive dysfunction?
• What do you do if a resident is agitated?

Assessment

Following the Aged Care placement experience, you will attend and participate in a class debriefing session, where you can discuss your individual experiences in an interactive classroom/online session.

A template to complete the assessment activity for this experience will be available in your ePortfolio with instructions on the PHRM3101/PHRM3102 Ultra site.

Part One (max 200 words): Descriptive overview of medicines management.

Part Two (max 500 words): Critical reflection on your experience.

To Know

• These placements are sourced by the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and students will be allocated to the sites based on their term address.
• Students will attend placements in small groups.
• There are strict compliance requirements to protect the safety of vulnerable residents. Be sure to read and action all communication from the HMBS Placement Ready Team.
• Students who are not compliant will forfeit their placements and jeopardise their ability to successfully complete the course.
• Students must not attend their placement if unwell. Communicate your absence to your preceptor asap and follow absence procedure outlined in Your Responsibilities.