Nancy Losben, her husband Stuart, and daughter Dana now reside in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, not far from her birthplace in an historic Philadelphia neighborhood. She recalls with a smile her first forays into training nursing facility staff members to access and use computer data. I had to learn to keep my arms folded and let them work out solutions for themselves. It was worth every minute of it, though, to watch their faces when they saw their own work on a computer printout for the first time. Pharmacists are wonderful at providing all kinds of computer services to facilities, adds Losben.
Computerization is the future of nursing facilities.
They are going to have to be on line with state and federal agencies, for one thing. We're natural choices to sit in on meetings and ask the right kinds of questions when a facility is considering a new computer package. Losben also puts a high premium on educating the families of residents. It takes extra time, but I feel I'd be missing a great opportunity if I didn't reach out to residents' families to explain what I do. Consultant pharmacists work hard and carry tremendous liability and responsibility-it seems only logical that we communicate that diligence to the families of the residents.