Technician Update
Eight Members to Vie for ASHP Elective Offices
The Committee on Nominations has released the following list of candidates for ASHP office: Marjorie Shaw Phillips and Janet A. Silvester for 2007-08 President, Teresa J. Hudson and Michele Weizer for 2006-07 Chair of the House of Delegates, and NJSHP’s own Eric T. Hola, Janet L. Mighty, Kathryn R. Schultz, and James G. Stevenson for 2007-10 terms on the Board of Directors. Election of the president and two new members of the Board of Directors will occur in late summer. The chair of the House of Delegates will be elected at the ASHP Summer Meeting. NJSHP wishes Eric Hola the best of luck during this selection process!
 
 
Congratulations!

ASHP selected Jennifer Cimoch for its Policy and Legislative Affairs Student Subcommittee for the 2006-2007 term. Congratulations Jennifer!
 
 
SPOTLIGHT on YOU!

Celebrate your hard work and dedication in your pharmacy career! Share your accomplishments with NJSHP. Our newsletter is an excellent opportunity to provide education and information about your contributions to the practice of pharmacy. Your story can be an inspiration to others! So don’t be shy. To submit your contribution, please contact Stella Williams at 609-936-2205; swilliam@njha.com. We’d love to hear from you!
 
 
Up Close and Personal
 
Continued from cover
 
For this year, John thanks the NJSHP membership, The Board and its Officers with whom close relationships developed. He emphasized great appreciation to Stella Williams, who tirelessly, diligently, and successfully, continues to drive the process, keeping the Chapter on track. On a personal note, John’s three children are grown – so there’s a little more quiet time with his wife, Barbara. In his spare time, you’ll find him relaxing by the pool, playing with the dogs, or cutting the Back-40, with iPod and headphones fully engaged, blocking out the stresses of the world around him.
 
Live educational and on-line learning opportunities for technicians are keeping Technician Director Barbara Dixey busy as usual. Here is a quick snapshot of recent sessions and what’s coming down the pipeline:

On May 25, 2006, Gina Rapp, Infection Control Practitioner from Shoreline Behavioral Services, presented her INFECTION CONTROL seminar to an audience of 20 technicians at Kimball Medical Center.

Karla Lee LaVoie, certified Reiki Master, presented ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE on June 15, 2006 to a group of 25 technicians. Technicians were amazed that holistic medicine is being used in hospitals, nursing homes and even animal shelters. Music, art and the power of touch have the ability to create well-being and heal. The seminar ended with a hands-on demonstration.

During the summer months of July and August, there will be no live educational seminars.

The NJSHP website (www.njshp.org) continues to be an invaluable resource to obtain CE Credits. NJSHP website features research articles from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy & Health Science and the Ernestt Mario School of Pharmacy. Dr. Linda Spooner and her Pharm D. students, along with Dr. Jacqueline Olin and her Pharm.D. students, have graciously shared their research articles with the technicians to create educational CE’s. Each article is worth (1) or (2) CE’s.

The following articles already appear on the website for credit:
The Use of oral Drug Therapy in Type 2 Diabetes
Hyperlipidemia

Future website articles will have the title, author, CE’s and objectives listed. By probing each article, a request will be generated to mail the article in its entirety. After reading the article, ten questions will follow. Please e-mail the article title, date and answers along with your name and address to: Barbara Dixey at dixrx@aol.com. Your certificate will be mailed to you. Additional resources are available for technicians and pharmacists to obtain online CE credits at http://thecesolution.com/ce/index.asp. The CE Solution offers approximately 35 articles sponsored by drug companies for free CE’s. Registration on the site is required. This site offers a free law CE.

Rxschool.com is another site offering free educational resources like minimal fee articles and a free law CE.
 
Congratulations to Barbara Dixey who has been reappointed to the ASHP Technician Advisory Board for 2006-2007! Barbara’s been very active the last year and now reports:
An areas of focus includes the ExCPT (Exam for the Certification of Pharmacy Technicians) which was developed by the Institute for the Certification of Pharmacy Technicians. ExCPT was created because of the need to have more trained and certified technicians. Retail pharmacies have expressed the need for additional training and quicker processing of technicians.
Several states have accepted ExCPT as a recognized measure of technician’s knowledge and skills. Currently, PTCB is the only nationally recognized pharmacy technician certification. At the June session of the New Jersey Board of Pharmacy, Ken Schafermeyer expressed the need to consider recognizing ExCPT as an accepted measure of technician certification for New Jersey.
Some of the reasons given for the creation of another technician certification include:
o
Enhanced flexibility – Tests are given 48 hours after registration with a test fee of $95 as compared to PTCB testing which is offered 4 times a year, requires registration 2 months in advance and a test fee of $120.
o
Greater accessibility – ExCPT offers 1,000 computerized testing centers and 300 test dates as compared to PTCB which offers 165 test sites for written testing taking. PTCB is pleased to announce the initiation of online computer testing. The first online test will be available in September 2006. Stay posted for additional test sites, locations and dates.
On another front, California shares the vision of accepting tech-check-tech in hospitals. The State Board of Pharmacy has voted to allow tech-check-tech in hospitals after reviewing data showing that technicians are as accurate as pharmacists following a two year study at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Tech-check-tech is a great achievement for technicians because they have demonstrated their dedication, accuracy and skills needed to be entrusted with dispensing privileges. Pharmacists will now have the freedom to make rounds on the nursing units, recommend drug therapy and influence physician’s prescribing habits.

As California ploughs the way, hopefully New Jersey will follow someday.
       


Click Here For the Next Page