Why Pediatric Weights Matter

A critical part of a pharmacist's job is ensuring the proper dose of a medication is provided to patients. They can do this by checking the dose with the patient's weight, especially with pediatric patients. If the dose is incorrect, it can cause adverse effects of an overdose or not work effectively because it is under-dosed.  In this week's conversation, Jake Galdo talks with Kelsey Holder, a Clinical Pharmacist at SEMO Rx Pharmacies and PGY-1 Resident with the University of Missouri - Kansas City about the importance of collecting pediatric weight to ensure better patient care.

Host
Jake Galdo, PharmD, MBA, BCPS, BCGP
Course Content and Developer, CEimpact
Clinical Pharmacist, Ross Bridge Pharmacy
CEO, Seguridad, Inc

Guest
Kelsey Holder, PharmD
Clinical Pharmacist, SEMO Rx Pharmacies
PGY-1 Resident, University of Missouri - Kansas City

Takeaways

1. Kelsey's project is implementing a workflow change for her pharmacy staff to focus on pediatric weight to ensure prescriptions can be processed accurately.  
2. Checking pediatric weight and verifying a dose is important because an overdose or under-dose can cause harm to the patient.
3. You can start this in your pharmacy by educating yourself and your pharmacy staff on the importance of having patient weight on file and ensuring the dose is correct based on weight

How to Start

1. Look at the patient's profile to determine if the patient's weight is on file
2. Talk to your pharmacy staff on the importance of having patient weight on files + making sure that dosing is correct based on weight

Check out Choose My Pharmacy to begin bringing back quality to your patient care. Choose My Pharmacy™ is about you, a stakeholder in healthcare, becoming empowered to understand community pharmacy quality. 

Looking for more education on pediatric patients and using pediatric weight base skills? Take these courses!

• Pediatric Pearls for Pharmacy Technicians
• Test and Treat: Group A Streptococcus (Pharmacist) 
• Test and Treat: Group A Streptococcus (Technician) 

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