Critical Care Foundation Course: Pharmacists

Overview

This course has been designed for pharmacists starting out in critical care, usually with less than 6 months experience, or those in need of a refresher of the basics of critical care pharmacy practice.  It is ideally suited for pharmacists working in critical care or providing adhoc cover to critically ill patients during times of surge, weekend cover or sickness.

The course is fully funded by NHS England.

All applicants will be asked to declare they are eligible to attend via an online form.  Any applicants not submitting their form by the deadline requested will be removed from the course but may be eligible to attend the next course.

Eligibility criteria apply:

• You must be a Pharmacist or Pharmacy Technician working in NHS hospitals in England
• You must have the support of your department (e.g. line manager, Education and Training Lead, or Chief Pharmacist)

AND

• You must be deployed to adult critical care areas as a support activity (e.g. weekends / bank holidays / annual leave or sickness / maternity leave cover) OR
• You must be deployed to adult critical care areas as part of short to medium early careers rotations.

You will not be eligible for this course if you:

• Have enrolled on the critical care pharmacist pathway or the pharmacy technician pathway.
• Are employed in a setting not delivering NHS care in England

The course consists of:

• Four modules, all delivered online, with facilitated case-based discussions led by expert tutors.
• Pre-learning content
• Slidesets of each online module
• Online assessment to receive certificate of completion
• A dedicated community with discussion forum
• Access to a library of pharmacy practice education and discussion forums.

Module 1 takes place on Wednesday 10 April, 4.00pm – 6.00pm.
Module 2 takes place on Thursday 09 May, 4.00pm – 6.00pm.
Module 3 takes place on Thursday 06 June, 4.00pm – 6.00pm.
Module 4 takes place on Thursday 20 June, 4.00pm – 6.00pm.

Module 1

• Introduction to the role of the pharmacist and pharmacy technician in supporting critical care environments, prioritising patient-care activities and dealing with immediate ethical and legal issues and the safe supply of medicines.
• Introduction to the adult critical care environment, including levels of care, monitoring and invasive devices.
• The critically ill adult patient cohort, supporting medicines reconciliation at transitions of care between the ward and ICU and vice versa; common medication administration issues, and communication issues in critical illness.
• Systematic body-systems approach to reviewing critically ill patients.
• Supportive bundles of care to ensure basic needs are met such as eye care, VAP prevention, bowel management, gastrointestinal protection.

Module 2

• Haemodynamics, rational use of IV fluids and managing fluid balance
• Cardiovascular support, including inotropes and vasopressors.

Module 3

• Infections in critically ill patients, including sepsis, septic shock and hospital-acquired infections
• Critical illness pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic considerations.
• Renal and hepatic impairment, including acute kidney injury and renal replacement therapies.

Module 4

• Neurological considerations including sedation, muscle relaxants, agitation, delirium, seizures and pain management.
• Respiratory failure and respiratory support

Certificate of completion

Participants will receive a certificate of completion for each module upon achieving a 60% pass mark in the online multiple choice assessment.

Booking information

Reservation will close at midnight on Monday 1 April 2024.

If you are not already a UKCPA member you will need to complete our guest account registration and security check process. Please allow 14 days before the Module 1 date.

Should this course not reach its minimum number, the UKCPA reserves the right to postpone and offer participants a place on an alternative course.

Additional Skills Day for pharmacists, bookable separately.

Participants who book this course will also have the opportunity to attend a Skills Day to practice clinical decision-making and receive one-to-one feedback from experts. Places will be booked on a first come first served basis. A choice of two dates for the Skills Days will be available, each with a maximum capacity of 25 each.  Please refer to the UKCPA event page.