Pharmacy Equipments And Instruments
Adequate pharmaceutical and administrative facilities shall be
provided for the pharmacy department , including;
1. The necessary equipment for the compounding ,dispensing and
manufacturing of pharmaceutical and parental preparations.
2. Book keeping supplies and related materials for proper
administration of the department.
3. An adequate library and filing equipment to make information
concerning drugs readily available to both pharmacist and the
physicians.
4.Special locked storage space to meet the legal requirement for
storage of narcotics ,alcohol and other prescribed drugs.
5.A refrigerator for the storage of thermo bile products.
6. Adequate floor space for all pharmacy operations and storage of
the products in a satisfactory location with proper lighting and
ventilation .
The equipment are segregated into tow groups fixed and
movable:
Fixed: it is defined as those equipment which requires installation
and become attached to the building . example cabinets ,counters
,sinks , etc.
Movable; it is defined as that equipment which is capable of being
moved and is not intended to be permanently affixed to the
building .example carts ,desk balance ,mixer etc.
Role of pharmacy technician in pharmaceutical
services
Duties in the central hospital
1). Preparation of prescription under pharmacist supervision:
Involves:a. The ability to read prescriptions
b. Identifying different dosage form & different strength of drugs.
c. Compounding f drug in the pharmacy.
d. Writing the correct directions for use on each drug.
e. The ability to identifying drug incompatibility and
contraindication.
2) I.V admixture or IV additives:
Involves:
The ability to follow procedure of I.V additives, mixed under
sterile condition to prepare:
a .Total paranteral nutrition (TPN).
b.Cytotoxic &and cancer treating.
c. Antibiotic & antiviral drug.
It is mainly prepare specific drugs and strength (potency) to patient
which need special treatment i.e weaker or much stronger drug, or
prepare nutrition or vitamins, salt etc.
All these preparation are not available as ready products (items) on
pharmacy shelves.
3) Preparation of medication for in- patient according to the
unit dose system(U.D.S).
It is process followed in modern hospital to supply drugs daily to
each patient individually( one by one) giving only 24 hours drugs
supply.
4)Prepacking of medication:
Prepare packages which contain a standard of doses ( tablet,
capsule, ampoules etc.)in (bottles or plastic bags ) & writing
standard direction for use on them .
Prepacking of medication is done during hours of no rush (i.e not
crowded and few patients) in preparation (to get ready) for the rush
hours( when highest number of patients come to the pharmacy).
5)Arrangement of medication in the pharmacy:
Medication can be arranged in the pharmacy according to:
A) Alphabet sequence (usually using the generic name but trade
name can be used.)
B) According to dosage form (tablet, capsule ,ointment, cream,
paranteral ,syrup …..etc)
C. According to use:
This means that drug will be grouped (put together) as the action
they used for e,g
1.Antipyretic & analgecic.
2. Antibiotic ,anti fungal & antiviral.
3.Antihypertensive drug.
4. Anti diabetic drug.
This is done both in out patient & in oupatient pharmacy. Also we
must but drug with short expiry date in front of the shelves& new
drug behind them.
6) Estimation of drug requirement of the pharmacy:
Pharmacy technicians should make statistics for dispensed drug in
records & plot (draw) curve showing:
A .In which months drug are dispensed more (i.e seasonal patterns
of dispensation of drug).
B. Quantities for each season & quantities during ordinary
seasons.
C. Special drugs which are necessary for indemic diseases e.g
Malaria etc.
7) Control of expiry date for all medication :
- Clear notes must be ( display) on each drug on the shelves " also
in fridge " showing the expiry date of each batch.
- it is good practice to put drug with short expiry date in front of
shelves " to dispensed them first" & put drugs with longer expiry
date in the back of the shelves " to dispensed them after finished
short expiry date".
Best practice to remind the pharmacy technician is to use labels
with different colours.
A. Red labels ( when the expiry date closer to six month)
B. blue labels ( on drug of long expiry date).
-Daily or weekly checks on expiry date in the pharmacy is best
practice , because drug must be returned to drug store, before six
month or at least pharmacy department must write to the stores a
list of:
A. Name of items near expiry.
B. Quantities of each item.
8) Registration & storage of prescription :
- Daily registration of all prescription , then storing them.
- Specially care must be followed with prescription of:
. A. Narcotic
B. Controlled drugs
which must also be registered in special register and must be kept
with register in special safe because they may be committees
which will check on your stocks of drugs and narcotic any time.
Therefore all your registers (books) & stocks must be accurate &
up to date.
9) Helping the pharmacist in-charge to distribute work
shift & duties in the pharmacy.
Most hospital pharmacies work (24 hours ) , but staff work in 8
hours in rotation .
This means that (3 shift) will take duty in a hours. But they rotate
their shift . So that some of them will work night shift one weak
but morning or afternoon shift next weak and so on ,also there
must be stand by staff in case one of them ill or in leave.