The survey of CCPT members revealed that the model both engaged and stimulated the pharmacists involved, reflective of the autonomy and accountability required for sustainable, transformational cultural change. Within a year of entering the CCPT, 2 of the 3 pharmacists initially engaged had earned their board certification in pharmacotherapy (ie, BCPS) and the other, who had not acquired her Doctor of Pharmacy degree prior to the CCPT initiative, enrolled in a program to do so. The pharmacists expressed that they obtained BCPS over the newly available critical care certification because of the expectation that they maintain expertise across patient populations. This level of self-driven motivation in the absence of compensation reflects the value and professional satisfaction gained from being voluntary members of the CCPT.
Conclusion
Critical care pharmacy practice has continued to evolve to include increasingly specialized training for newer graduates and, more recently, the availability of critical care pharmacist board certification. While it is optimal to apply these standards when filling open critical care pharmacist positions, many hospitals require existing staff to fulfill multiple roles across various patient populations, leading to a variation in educational, training, and practice backgrounds for pharmacists currently practicing in the ICU. To minimize the variation associated with this resource-limited structure in a manner that standardized and elevated the type and level of service provided, we created a CCPT with existing pharmacists who were willing to accept intensive training and demonstrate an ongoing commitment to maintain defined competencies and skills. Our goal was to solidify the essential role of the critical care pharmacist in providing quality critical care services as described in the literature. The CCPT was well-received by the multidisciplinary team and served as an example for other disciplines that had similar struggles. The team’s success expanded into several other ongoing initiatives, including critical care pharmacist–driven protocols.
Acknowledgment: The authors thank Nina Roberts, MSN, RN, CCRN, NEA-BC, and Carol Ash, DO, MBA, MHCDS, the ICU Nursing and Medical Directors, respectively, at the time of this program’s initiation, for supporting the development of the critical care pharmacist team initiative and review of this manuscript.
Corresponding author: Liza Barbarello Andrews, PharmD, BCCCP, BCPS, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 160 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854; lbarbarello@pharmacy.rutgers.edu.
Financial disclosures: None.