What Is the Role of Pharmacists in Treating COVID-19 Patients? The Experiences and Expectations of Front Line Medical Staff

Aims: The study aimed to understand the role and the core values of pharmacists and the professional expectations of medical staff for pharmacists in treating COVID-19 patients from the perspectives of the frontline medical staff. The findings help to understand and provide a reference for the career growth path of future pharmacists.Methods: A phenomenological method was used to conduct in-depth interviews with frontline medical staff working in isolation wards during COVID-19. The interview data were analyzed, and the themes were extracted.Results: Pharmacists played a positive role in ensuring the supply of non-routinely stocked drugs, including traditional Chinese medicine preventative preparations, providing drug information and medication consultation for complex patients, and identifying adverse drug reactions. However, at present, the integration of pharmacists and nurses is poor with inadequate communication, and the pharmaceutical care activities provided to physicians were still not comprehensive.Conclusions: The level of pharmaceutical care provided by pharmacists needs to be further strengthened. Frontline medical teams generally have high professional expectations for pharmacists, including expecting pharmacists to become drug therapy experts. They expect pharmacists to fully participate in clinical decision-making, especially playing a central role in managing drug interactions, contraindications, and other clinical uses of drugs.

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In-depth blood proteome profiling analysis revealed distinct functional characteristics of plasma proteins between severe and non-severe COVID-19 patients

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-020-80120-8 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Joonho Park ◽

Hyeyoon Kim ◽

So Yeon Kim ◽

Yeonjae Kim ◽

Jee-Soo Lee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Clinical Decision Making ◽

Clinical Decision ◽

Good Prognosis ◽

Severe Illness ◽

Proteome Profiling ◽

T Cell Suppression ◽

Cell Suppression ◽

Profiling Analysis ◽

Necrosis Factor

AbstractThe severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has infected over forty million patients worldwide. Although most coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients have a good prognosis, some develop severe illness. Markers that define disease severity or predict clinical outcome need to be urgently developed as the mortality rate in critical cases is approximately 61.5%. In the present study, we performed in-depth proteome profiling of undepleted plasma from eight COVID-19 patients. Quantitative proteomic analysis using the BoxCar method revealed that 91 out of 1222 quantified proteins were differentially expressed depending on the severity of COVID-19. Importantly, we found 76 proteins, previously not reported, which could be novel prognostic biomarker candidates. Our plasma proteome signatures captured the host response to SARS-CoV-2 infection, thereby highlighting the role of neutrophil activation, complement activation, platelet function, and T cell suppression as well as proinflammatory factors upstream and downstream of interleukin-6, interleukin-1B, and tumor necrosis factor. Consequently, this study supports the development of blood biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets to aid clinical decision-making and subsequently improve prognosis of COVID-19.

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Clinical decision making and research in hepatocellular carcinoma: Pivotal role of imaging techniques

Hepatology ◽

10.1002/hep.24670 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 54 (6) ◽

pp. 2238-2244 ◽

Cited By ~ 68

Author(s):

Jordi Bruix ◽

Maria Reig ◽

Jordi Rimola ◽

Alejandro Forner ◽

Marta Burrel ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽

Decision Making ◽

Clinical Decision Making ◽

Imaging Techniques ◽

Clinical Decision ◽

Pivotal Role

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Practice Guidelines for the Diagnosis of COVID-19-Associated Pulmonary Aspergillosis in an Intensive Care Setting

Journal of Intensive Care Medicine ◽

10.1177/08850666211047166 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 088506662110471

Author(s):

Zia Hashim ◽

Zafar Neyaz ◽

Rungmei S.K. Marak ◽

Alok Nath ◽

Soniya Nityanand ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Intensive Care ◽

Practice Guidelines ◽

Clinical Management ◽

Care Setting ◽

Clinical Decision Making ◽

Clinical Decision ◽

Third Wave ◽

Intensive Care Setting ◽

Pulmonary Aspergillosis

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19)-associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA) is a new disease characterized by secondary Aspergillus mold infection in patients with COVID-19. It primarily affects patients with COVID-19 in critical state with acute respiratory distress syndrome, requiring intensive care and mechanical ventilation. CAPA has a higher mortality rate than COVID-19, posing a serious threat to affected individuals. COVID-19 is a potential risk factor for CAPA and has already claimed a massive death toll worldwide since its outbreak in December 2019. Its second wave is currently progressing towards a peak, while the third wave of this devastating pandemic is expected to follow. Therefore, an early and accurate diagnosis of CAPA is of utmost importance for effective clinical management of this highly fatal disease. However, there are no uniform criteria for diagnosing CAPA in an intensive care setting. Therefore, based on a review of existing information and our own experience, we have proposed new criteria in the form of practice guidelines for diagnosing CAPA, focusing on the points relevant for intensivists and pulmonary and critical care physicians. The main highlights of these guidelines include the role of CAPA-appropriate test specimens, clinical risk factors, computed tomography of the thorax, and non-culture-based indirect and direct mycological evidence for diagnosing CAPA in the intensive care unit. These guidelines classify the diagnosis of CAPA into suspected, possible, and probable categories to facilitate clinical decision-making. We hope that these practice guidelines will adequately address the diagnostic challenges of CAPA, providing an easy-to-use and practical algorithm to clinicians for rapid diagnosis and clinical management of the disease.

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Clinical Decision-Making in Caries Management: Role of Caries Detection and Diagnosis

Detection and Assessment of Dental Caries ◽

10.1007/978-3-030-16967-1_23 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 227-233

Author(s):

Margherita Fontana ◽

Marie-Charlotte D. N. J. M. Huysmans

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Clinical Decision Making ◽

Clinical Decision ◽

Caries Detection ◽

Caries Management ◽

Detection And Diagnosis

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The emerging role of PDAs in information use and clinical decision making

Evidence-Based Nursing ◽

10.1136/ebn.12.2.35 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 35-38 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

D. Doran

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Clinical Decision Making ◽

Information Use ◽

Clinical Decision

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The role of bioimpedance and biomarkers in helping to aid clinical decision-making of volume assessments in dialysis patients

Kidney International ◽

10.1038/ki.2014.207 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 86 (3) ◽

pp. 489-496 ◽

Cited By ~ 143

Author(s):

Simon J. Davies ◽

Andrew Davenport

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Clinical Decision Making ◽

Clinical Decision ◽

Dialysis Patients

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Importance of Hospital Library Facilities to Clinical Decision-Making by Medical Staff

Health Information — New Possibilities ◽

10.1007/978-94-011-0093-9_37 ◽

1995 ◽

pp. 126-128 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

M. Casado Uriguen ◽

M. A. Garcia Martin ◽

P. M. La Torre ◽

M. I. Montes del Olmo ◽

T. Mas Vilardell ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Medical Staff ◽

Clinical Decision Making ◽

Clinical Decision

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Current Role of Surgery in Pancreatic Cancer With Synchronous Liver Metastasis

Cancer Control ◽

10.1177/1073274820976593 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 27 (1) ◽

pp. 107327482097659

Author(s):

Wentao Zhou ◽

Dansong Wang ◽

Wenhui Lou

Keyword(s):

Pancreatic Cancer ◽

Liver Metastasis ◽

Clinical Decision Making ◽

Clinical Decision ◽

Synchronous Liver Metastasis ◽

Long Term Outcomes ◽

Short And Long Term ◽

Current Guidelines

Pancreatic cancer with synchronous liver metastasis has an extremely poor prognosis, and surgery is not recommended for such patients by the current guidelines. However, an increasing body of studies have shown that concurrent resection of pancreatic cancer and liver metastasis is not only technically feasible but also beneficial to the survival in the selected patients. In this review, we aim to summarize the short- and long-term outcomes following synchronous liver metastasectomy for pancreatic cancer patients, and discuss the potential criteria in selecting appropriate surgical candidates, which might be helpful in clinical decision-making.

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