Job opening: Surgery/Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Clinical Pharmacy Specialist
Salary: $140 393 - 182 515 per year
Published at: Oct 31 2024
Employment Type: Full-time
This position is located within the VA Mid-Atlantic Health Care Network (VISN 6), Hampton VA Medical Center, Pharmacy Service. The Surgery/Critical Care CPS functions as a core member of the multidisciplinary team and serves as an advanced practice provider to initiate, modify, or discontinue medication therapy and as a consultant for intensive medication therapy management services.
Duties
FUNCTIONS
Clinical - Direct Patient Care Activities that require a SOP
Core functions include comprehensive medication management as identified in their individual SOP, provided via chart reviews, daily team rounds, and face-to-face patient interactions. Additional services include but are not limited to: pharmacokinetic dosing services and management, renal dose adjustments, anticoagulation management, and antimicrobial stewardship.
Participates in interdisciplinary patient care rounds or meetings.
Functions as a mid-level provider to design, implement, and monitor therapeutic drug plans to achieve definite outcomes through direct interactions with patients and providers in assigned areas.
Orders, performs, reviews, and analyzes appropriate laboratory tests and other diagnostic studies necessary to monitor and support the patient's drug therapy.
Follows-up on lab or test results to discuss the plan of therapy, i.e., changes in medication therapy, monitoring, and additional testing requirements.
Clinical - Indirect Patient Care Activities
Identify patients who may benefit from CMM through chart reviews and during team huddles.
Review patient medication regimens for clinical effectiveness, drug selection, dosing, contraindications, side effects, potential drug interactions, and therapeutic outcomes as required. Communicates findings with prescribers and provides appropriate alternatives to current treatment plans as needed.
Monitor and report drug errors, adverse drug reactions, allergies, and patient compliance issues. Documents findings per facility procedures.
Apply knowledge of normal laboratory values in the evaluation of patient care, recognizes significant abnormalities, and makes dose adjustment recommendations based on objective laboratory findings.
Education and Research
Participates in the training and in-servicing of pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, pharmacy students, pharmacy residents, and other staff on assigned teams.
Is skilled at using both written and verbal communication techniques in teaching others.
Drug Information
Serves as an authority on drug usage, interactions, over-dosages, and compliance, to medical staff, nursing staff, technicians, and students. Uses appropriate references to research drug information.
Has a good working knowledge of information resources, both written and electronic.
Work Schedule: 0730 - 1600. Schedule can be adjusted by the leadership based on the needs of the service.
Telework: Ad-hoc
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Qualifications
Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.
Basic Requirements:
United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
English Language Proficiency: Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d).
Education:
Graduate of an Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) accredited College or School of Pharmacy with a baccalaureate degree in pharmacy (BS Pharmacy) and/or a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree. Verification of approved degree programs may be obtained from the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, 20 North Clark Street, Suite 2500, Chicago, Illinois 60602-5109; phone: (312) 664-3575, or through their Web site at: http://www.acpe-accredit.org/. (NOTE: Prior to 2005 ACPE accredited both baccalaureate and Doctor of Pharmacy terminal degree program. Today the sole degree is Doctor of Pharmacy.)
Graduates of foreign pharmacy degree programs meet the educational requirement if the graduate is able to provide proof of achieving the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Examination Commission (FPGEC) Certification, which includes passing the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Equivalency Examination (FPGEE) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-Based Test (TOEFL iBT).
Licensure: Full, current and unrestricted license to practice pharmacy in a State, Territory, Commonwealth of the United States (i.e., Puerto Rico), or the District of Columbia. The pharmacist must maintain current registration if this is a requirement for maintaining full, current, and unrestricted licensure. A pharmacist who has, or has ever had, any license(s) revoked, suspended, denied, restricted, limited, or issued/placed in a probationary status may be appointed only in accordance with the provisions in VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, section B, paragraph 16
May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).
Grade Determinations: GS-13 Clinical Pharmacy Specialist
Experience. In addition to the GS-12 requirements, must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level.
Assignments. Candidates at this grade level are to be in one of the assignments listed below. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity (difficulty) and range of variety as described in this standard at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time.
Clinical Pharmacy Specialist. The clinical pharmacy specialist (CPS) functions at the highest level of clinical practice, works independently under their scope of practice as defined by the individual medical center to directly care for patients. A CPS plays a defined role in budgetary execution and serves as a mid-level provider who functions to initiate, modify or discontinue medication therapy and as a consultant for intensive medication therapy management services. This includes, but is not limited to, the following: designing, implementing, assessing, monitoring and documenting therapeutic plans utilizing the most effective, least toxic and most economical medication treatments; helping achieve positive patient centric outcomes through direct and indirect interactions with patients, providers, and interdisciplinary teams in assigned areas; performing physical assessments; and ordering laboratory and other tests to help determine efficacy and toxicity of medication therapy. Pharmacists assigned to this position must demonstrate the following KSAs:
Ability to communicate orally and in writing to persuade and influence clinical and management decisions.
Expert understanding of regulatory and quality standards for their program area.
Ability to solve problems, coordinate and organize responsibilities to maximize outcomes in their program area or area of clinical expertise.
Expert knowledge of a specialized area of clinical pharmacy practice or specialty area of pharmacy.
Advanced skill in monitoring and assessing the outcome of drug therapies, including physical assessment and interpretation of laboratory and other diagnostic parameters.
Preferred Experience: Candidates for the Surgery/ICU CPS position should possess the skills outlined above with specific experience in critical care
(medicine and surgery), acute care disease state management, surgery, orthopedics, pre/post-surgical care. Candidates should have recent experience in a current or previous job (including residency training) that includes direct patient care and comprehensive medication management (CMM) responsibilities. Preferred candidates will have an advanced pharmacy degree (Pharm.D), board certification (BPS), PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency, or equivalent experience or mentorship.
*HPTs that are pending the completion of grade level requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.
Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.
Physical Requirements: The physical demands of the work are generally minor. The work is primarily sedentary in nature and usually occurs within climate controlled clinical and administrative settings. Use of fingers may be required to operate computers. There may be occasional light lifting/carrying (15 pounds or less) requirements to relocate boxed materials from one area to another, equipment and room set-up, and ambulation related to physical inspections of the facilities.
Education
IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here:
http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit:
https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.
Contacts
- Address Hampton VA Medical Center
100 Emancipation Drive
Hampton, VA 23667
US
- Name: Rodney Smith
- Phone: 4042421623
- Email: [email protected]
Map