Terms
Admitting Order
a medication order written by a physician on admission of a patient to the hospital; may or may not include a medication order
Unit Dose Cart
a mobile storage cart that contains individual patient drawers of medications that are filled for a 24-hour time period (Defined in images as "unit-dose cart")
Policy & procedures manual
P&P manual; written or written, step-by-step set of instructions for pharmacists and technicians to follow on all operations within the pharmacy department
Medication order
a prescription written in the hospital setting
Intake record
documentation by the nurse upon admission to the hospital
Automated medication dispensing system (AMDS)
a secure, locked cabinet of designated drugs on a nursing unit whose software can track the dispensing and administration of each dose of medication to each patient (Defined in images as "automated dispensing system (ADS)")
Total parenteral nutrition (TPN)
an IV, high-concentration solution with protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, lipids, and water; TPN therapy may be used for patients with GI disorders; TPNs replace all nutrients needed by the body
Pick station
an area of the inpatient pharmacy that houses frequently prescribed formulary drugs in commercially available unit-dose packaging; the "fastest-moving" medications can be filled by more than one technician
Medical chart
a hard copy or digital legal document that contains the clinical information that a hospital collects in-house and consists of patient-identifying demographic and financial data, all test results, a diagnostic problem list, medication orders and list, nursing assessment, and discharge
Institutional Review Board (IRB)
a committee of the hospital that ensures that appropriate protection is provided to patients using investigational drugs; committee referred to as the Human Use Committee
Cart fill list
a daily printout of all patient profiles
Tech Check Tech
a program that allows a specially trained and certified pharmacy technician to check another layer of verification; TCT programs are regulated by the state board of pharmacy (Defined in images as "tech-check-tech (TCT)")
Pharmacy & Therapeutics (P&T) Committee
a committee of the hospital that reviews, approves, and revises the hospital's formulary of drugs and maintains the protocols for drug use
The Joint Commission
an independent governing body that sets standards for quality patient care and safety in hospitals and other healthcare facilities; this organization is responsible for hospital accreditation (Defined in images as "The Joint Commission (TJC)")
Home Medications
a patient’s medications brought from home at one time use while in hospital (Defined in images as "home medications (home meds)")
Director of Pharmacy
also known as the Pharmacist in Charge (PIC); the chief executive officer of the hospital pharmacy department
STAT order
a medication order that is to be filled and sent to the patient care unit immediately
Par levels
the minimum restock drug amount and the maximum reorder drug amount for each drug on each nursing unit
Investigational drug
a drug used in clinical studies that has not yet been approved by the FDA for use in the general population, or a drug used for non-approved indications
Home infusion pharmacy
a specialty pharmacy set up specifically to serve home healthcare dispensing
Unit Dose Product Label
contains product information in drug bar-code form (drug name, strength, manufacturer, expiration date, and barcode) (Defined in images as "unit-dose product label")
Quality Assurance (QA)
a program of systematic, documented, and periodic review of pharmacy services, operations, and quality to ensure that standards are met, problems are identified, and new programs are evaluated
Nonformulary drug
a drug not included on the hospital's drug formulary
IV admixture
a centralized pharmacy service; a controlled pharmacy service that prepares IV, TPN, and hazardous preparations in a sterile, clean room work environment (Defined in images as "intravenous (IV) admixture service")
Floor stock
medications stocked in a secured area at each nursing station or patient care area