Pharmacist

Job Title: Contract Clinical Pharmacist

Location: New Mexico VA Health Care System

Agency: Aptive Healthcare Staffing Agency

Position Type: Full-time/Part-time (as required)

Duration: Contract position start date 3.4.2025 -3.3.2025

Hours of Operation:

Pharmacy services are operational 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days a year. The contractor’s pharmacists are subject to varying work hours based on staffing needs and may be adjusted as deemed appropriate by the respective pharmacy section supervisor with approval from the COR. Work hours may consist of 8-12 hour shifts, with a minimum 12-hour rest period between shifts. Contract staff will be expected to provide coverage for weekends and holidays. Lunch breaks of 30 minutes and additional break times will be determined based on the daily workload demands.

Primary Responsibilities

Inpatient Duties

• Medication Preparation & Dispensing: Participate in all tasks related to medication preparation and dispensing to ensure safe, accurate, and timely delivery of medications to inpatient patients.
• Therapeutic Drug Monitoring: Provide patient-specific therapeutic drug monitoring for inpatient care, communicating relevant findings and/or recommendations to healthcare providers both orally and in writing. This includes:
• Assessing the therapeutic appropriateness of a patient's drug regimen.
• Identifying and addressing therapeutic duplication in the patient's drug regimen.
• Reviewing the appropriateness of the route and method of drug administration.
• Monitoring patient compliance with the prescribed drug regimen.
• Identifying and addressing drug-drug, drug-food, drug-laboratory, or drug-disease interactions.
• Evaluating allergies and adverse reactions.
• Reviewing clinical and pharmacokinetic laboratory data to anticipate side effects, toxicity, or adverse effects.
• Recognizing physical signs and clinical symptoms relevant to drug therapy.
• Patient Counseling: Provide clear and comprehensive medication counseling to inpatient patients, helping them understand the purpose, use, and potential side effects of their prescribed medications.
• Health Status Appraisal: Conduct comprehensive appraisals of the patient's health status by completing medication histories, including patient interviews.
• Medication Reconciliation: Participate in medication reconciliation for inpatients, including:
• Pharmacists under a Scope of Practice (CPP): Complete medication reconciliation and update the medication profile to reflect an accurate, active list of VA and non-VA medications.
• Pharmacists not under a Scope of Practice: Participate in medication reconciliation by reviewing discrepancies, coordinating with the care team, and providing patient education on medications.
• Adverse Drug Events & Error Reporting: Report adverse drug events (ADE), near misses, and medication errors. Document findings as per service and facility protocols.
• Medication Utilization Evaluation (MUE): Participate in the medical center's MUE program to evaluate and improve the safe and effective use of medications for inpatient care.
• Non-Formulary & Medication Approval Consults: Review and complete non-formulary medication approval consults for inpatient care, recommending formulary alternatives when appropriate. Ensure compliance with VA Criteria for Use and non-formulary restrictions.
• Therapeutic Interchange & Substitution: Implement VA medical facility policies regarding therapeutic interchanges and automatic substitutions for inpatient therapy as guided by the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee.
• Recall & Medication Shortage Management: Manage medication recalls and shortages for inpatient care, ensuring the availability of appropriate substitute medications, dosage strengths, and instructions to meet prescribed treatment regimens.
• Prescription Management: Manage inpatient medication orders by flagging prescriptions, using view alerts, and applying the "hold medication" function as necessary.
• Preceptorship & Staff Development: Serve as a role model and preceptor for pharmacy students, residents, and peers in the inpatient setting. Provide educational in-services to nursing, medical staff, and ancillary services to foster professional growth and development.
• Emergency Preparedness: Actively participate in inpatient facility and service emergency preparedness activities, ensuring readiness for various healthcare situations.
• Documentation in CPRS: Document all inpatient patient care activities in CPRS, including clinical assessments, interventions, recommendations, and monitoring. Ensure accurate workload credit for all appropriate inpatient activities.
  
  

Outpatient Duties

• Medication Preparation & Dispensing: Participate in all tasks related to medication preparation and dispensing for outpatient patients, ensuring accurate medication delivery.
• Therapeutic Drug Monitoring: Provide outpatient-specific therapeutic drug monitoring and communicate relevant findings to other healthcare providers. This includes:
• Assessing therapeutic appropriateness of outpatient drug regimens.
• Identifying drug interactions and addressing potential risks.
• Reviewing the appropriateness of drug administration routes.
• Monitoring patient compliance with prescribed outpatient therapy.
• Patient Counseling: Provide counseling to outpatient patients on their prescribed medications, potential side effects, and the correct use of their medications.
• Health Status Appraisal: Conduct comprehensive appraisals of outpatient patient health by completing medication histories, including patient interviews.
• Medication Reconciliation: Participate in outpatient medication reconciliation, including:
• Pharmacists under a Scope of Practice (CPP): Complete medication reconciliation, including updating medication profiles to reflect accurate VA and non-VA medications.
• Pharmacists not under a Scope of Practice: Participate in medication reconciliation by reviewing discrepancies, processing medication orders, and providing patient medication education.
• Drug Safety & Efficacy Assessment: Regularly assess the safety and efficacy of outpatient medications, including evaluating physical symptoms and taking corrective action where necessary.
• Adverse Drug Events & Error Reporting: Report adverse drug events (ADE), near misses, and medication errors. Document findings according to service/facility procedures for outpatient care.
• Medication Utilization Evaluation (MUE): Participate in the MUE program specifically for outpatient medications, ensuring the rational use of drug therapy.
• Non-Formulary & Medication Approval Consults: Assist with non-formulary and medication approval consults in the outpatient setting, recommending formulary alternatives when necessary.
• Therapeutic Interchange & Substitution: Implement therapeutic interchanges and automatic substitutions for outpatient medications in accordance with facility policy and the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee.
• Recall & Medication Shortage Management: Manage outpatient medication recalls and shortages, ensuring appropriate alternatives are available to meet prescribed treatment regimens.
• Supply Order Management: Enter supply orders for outpatient medications and associated items such as syringes, needles, and tablet splitters, according to VA medical facility policy.
• Prescription Management: Manage outpatient medication orders, using necessary functions such as flagging prescriptions and managing view alerts.
• Refill Management: Extend medication refills for outpatient patients until the next scheduled appointment as per provider instructions and VA facility policy.
• Preceptorship & Staff Development: Serve as a role model and preceptor for pharmacy students, residents, and peers in outpatient settings, providing education and fostering professional growth.
• Professional Competency: Maintain professional competency in outpatient care by staying up to date with current pharmaceutical knowledge, therapies, and patient care practices.
• Training & Certification: Obtain and maintain required training programs such as BLS certification and mandatory reporter training, in accordance with outpatient care requirements.
• Documentation in CPRS: Document all outpatient patient care activities in CPRS, including clinical assessments, interventions, recommendations, and monitoring. Ensure accurate workload credit for outpatient care activities.
  
  

Minimum Qualifications

The pharmacists must be a 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.

About Aptive

Arrow ARC supports Veterans Health Administration facilities and offices across the U.S. with health care staffing and program support via the 10-year Integrated Critical Staffing Program (ICSP). We provide staffing solutions to address critical shortages in VHA medical facilities caused by turnover, recruitment issues, seasonal needs, surges or emergencies.

Arrow is a certified Service-Disabled, Veteran-Owned Small Business joint venture between Artemis ARC and Aptive Resources, two award-winning companies that share an agile, mission-focused, results driven approach in the federal sector. Arrow provides management consulting services and specializes in working with federal government agencies like the Department of Veterans Affairs and Office of Personnel Management.

EEO Statement

Aptive is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, parental status, veteran status, age, disability, or any other protected class.

Veterans, members of the Reserve and National Guard, and transitioning active-duty service members are highly encouraged to apply.