Ward Round Participation
Ward Round Participation
Ward Round Participation
Ward rounds are the routine clinical rounds where the healthcare
professionals (a doctor with or without a nurse, pharmacist, or any
paramedical staff like technician or physiotherapist) visit the patients in the
ward to assess the progress of the health condition of the inpatients.
The doctors are visiting all the patients admitted in their unit in an
order beginning from the intensive care unit.
Also, there is a documented case report to remind the case history of
the patients who quickly update and can change the strategies of treatment.
The ward team comprises doctors, nurses, and a pharmacist who work
with a common objective to ensure safe, effective, economic, and patient-
friendly treatment with the knowledge inputs of each professional practice.
Classification
Ward round participation is conducted at secondary and tertiary hospitals.
Classification is based on the purpose of the round and composition of the
healthcare team.
It is as follows:
Pre-ward rounds.
Registrar/resident rounds.
Professor/chief rounds.
Teaching ward rounds.
Pre-Ward Rounds
Visit the patient ward by the postgraduate students of medical college
and (or) Interns to perform the daily review of patients health status is called
pre-rounds/pre-ward rounds.
Such type of ward rounds are a part of the training of the students.
A clinical pharmacist can accompany the HCP during such ward rounds
but will have limited learning opportunities since during such visits, fewer
decisions of disease management are made.
Registrar / Resident Rounds
The visit to the patient ward, daily at a fixed time (usually in the
morning) by registrars and the resident doctors of the
hospital individually or as a team conducts ward rounds.
Further, such type of ward rounds in the intensive units may be
conducted multiple times a day depending on the seriousness of the patient's
disease.
Such kind of ward sounds can be very useful for the clinical
pharmacists since they are extensive and involve the teaching of clinical
aspects to PG students.
The major drug-related queries that may arise during ward rounds are
related to:
Dose and frequency,
Choice of medication,
Adverse effects,
Drug interactions,
Formulation,
Duration of therapy,
Action send use/pharmacology,
Drug availability/supply,
Indication of patient medication on admission,
Legal and administrative issues,
Miscellaneous such as storage conditions.
Role of Pharmacist
The pharmacist being an expert in matters of the drugs should be available
for the word round team to decide upon the matters of dosage regimen,
formulary interpretation, ADR monitoring, drug-drug interactions, drug-food
interactions, and drug and poison information services.
The availability of pharmaceutical services enhances the accuracy of
treatment, patient safety, and efficacy.
In the first ward round, he follows the treatment given and checks the
formulary for the dose prescribed.
Further, he may also critically think of any possible risk to the patients due to
the drug administered he will alert the team and prevent the further causality
that would have occurred due to the non-viability of clinical pharmacy
services.
In the 2nd round, the pharmacist targets the patients before discharge and
advises the patients regarding discharged medication practice in the rounds.
He also motivates the knowledge of diet and exercise required for disease
management for a patient to be discharged.