Dispensing pharmacy deals with making ready and supplying medicines to a particular person with clear guidelines, on how to take the drug.
The dispensing procedure involves all activities that take place between the periods of demand the medicine is presented to the period the prescribed medicines are handed over to the patient.
Introduction to Dispensing Pharmacy
A Dispensing Pharmacy is one authorized by the government that, on receiving a drug prescription request from a patient, demands a central fill pharmacy to fill the request and on receiving the filled drug prescribed, hand over the drug prescribed to the patient or the patient representative.
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A Dispensing Pharmacy is one licensed by the government to prescribe drugs for patients with a prescription order and hand over the prescribed drug to the person ill.
Qualities of a good Dispensing Pharmacy
- Must have a clean environment
- Must be properly set
- Must have enough space
- The temperature level and humidity must be controlled
- The medicines must be preserved in an accurate manner and in alphabetical order on shelves or by using the normal method employed in that particular pharmacy.
Preparations present in a Dispensing Pharmacy
The pharma products present in a dispensing pharmacy include but are not limited to the ones below;
- Aerosols
- Applications
- Cachets
- Capsules
- Collodions
- Creams
- Draughts
- Dusting powder
- Ear drops
- Elixirs
- Emulsions
- Enemas
- Gargles
- Gels
- Granules
- Effervescent granules
- Inhalations
- Insufflations
- Irrigations
- Linctuses
- Liniments
- Lotions
- Lozenges
- Mixtures
- Mouthwashes
- Nasal drops
- Ointments
- Pediatric drops
- Pastes
- Pastilles
- Solutions
- Solution tablets
- Sprays
- Suppositories
- Syrup
- Pills Vitrellae.
Activities involved in a Dispensing Pharmacy
The activities that go on in the dispensing pharmacy include but are not limited to;
- Relieving and confirming orders from patients
- Checking prescription and interpretation
- Verifying and consulting if necessary
- Removing medicines for issuing and assembling
- Billing and counter-checking
- Issuing medicines to patients with clear instructions and counseling.
Roles of a Dispensing Pharmacist
- A Dispensing Pharmacist’s most basic role is to check prescriptions from physicians before dispensing to the patients their medications in order to ensure safety and authenticity.
- Do not give counseling on the side effects some medications can have and also caution them against actions that could be harmful while the patient is still on medication.
- A Dispensing pharmacist makes sure that his patient isn’t prescribed a medication that his body is sensitive to or that will act upon the food or another medication he is taking at the time.
- May also offer consultation services for the management of complicated ailments which may include; arthritis, diabetics, hypertension.
- A Dispensing pharmacist also instructs other health care professionals about pharmacology-related issues or medication management and assists majorly in the fight against misuse of antibiotics, habit-forming and aphrodisiac drugs.
Steps involved in Dispensing
Below are the steps which each involved several related tasks, published by the World Health Organization (WHO)
Step 1 – Receive and Verify
Immediately you get the prescription, you need to verify it. Confirm the patient’s personal information and name to be certain that the prescription is not antiquated.
Step 2 – Understanding the prescription
After verifying the prescription, the next thing that follows is to be certain you understand what is written.
You also need to ascertain if the prescribed dosage is suitable for the type of medication and for the patient’s age and sex.
For instance, in dispensing anti-malarial drugs for children, the pharmacist knows the dosage for children is based on individual body weight.
Do not ever guess on dispensing drugs, if you have any doubts or questions when going through the prescription, notify the prescriber and ask for more clarity.
Step 3 – Label and prepare the medications
By printing the date of issue, the drug’s name, dosage, and patient’s name and address, and also labeling the bottle the patient will receive, you can keep track of what you are dispensing and to whom if you are in a busy pharmacy with many customers.
The bottle should also note if any refills are allowed. A great way of avoiding errors is by creating a label for the medication as soon as you have verified and clarified everything.
Never touch a medication with your care skin to avoid infecting the medication or even risk infecting yourself with certain powerfully effective drugs.
How much a pharmacy dispenser earns is determined by the pharmacy.
On average, the salary of a dispenser in the UK is £17,000 annually and £1,250 per month. A Pharmacy dispenser can expect an average starting salary range of £7,000- £12,000.
A good Dispensing practice is one that ensures all proper medicines of the desired quantity are accurately given to the right patient with the right dose, strength, number of times, dosage form and quantity, and suitable packaging.
Conclusion on Dispensing Pharmacy
The impact and benefits of a Dispensing Pharmacy to the general public can never be overestimated.
For good Dispensing practice in a Pharmacy, the availability of a Pharmacist in the Pharmacy is a necessity. Always know the drug you take.
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Chibueze Uchegbu is a certified medical physiologist with a great passion for healthy living.
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