Physician | Public Health | Digital Health & Healthcare Innovation | Founder, BarnMD | Health Education & Access to Care.
Joined December 2010
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Dr. Barn retweeted
The patient is the one who takes the real credit when we catch an error together and the one who suffers if we don’t.
In practice, the doctor still owns the prescription, and the pharmacist owns the final check. That’s not rivalry; that’s how the safety net is supposed to work. Document the intervention, call the doctor calmly, and protect the patient. Ego can wait.
The rivalry exists, but every time we choose the patient over the profession, it gets a little quieter.
Dr. Barn retweeted
Check out this article: How My Team And I Were Attacked In Ekiti – Sowore - independent.ng/how-my-team-a…
Dr. Barn retweeted
As pharmacists, it’s our job to verify if the medications prescribed is for the right patient, at the right dose, right frequency and so on. We check to see if the prescribed dose is safe for the patient or not, we don’t just hand out medications (that’s what most Nigerian doctors think or want us to do). We should just go on and hand out whatever they prescribe without questions.
In the video, the prescriber’s contact is always on prescriptions so that the pharmacist can always reach the doctor. This comes to play when the patient isn’t getting the medication in the hospital, they getting it from a community pharmacy.
Calling a prescriber to verify a prescription is normal practice…
Dr. Barn retweeted
I pray so Doc. We need to have these discussions so that we shift the minds of all our professionals, especially the older ones. They’re the ones who usually fight against these DIGITAL systems.
Dr. Barn retweeted
Exactly. 👍🏽
In these facilities, you find that they still use paper and pen for patient records. They only use computers to generate bills and sometimes send prescriptions.
I’d be in the pharmacy and I’ll receive a prescription with no idea what the physician is managing the patient for. I’d have to ask the patient certain questions to be able to know what’s going on. Even with that, it still isn’t enough, we need to know the entire history to be able to do our jobs effectively.
Dr. Barn retweeted
If a doctor makes a clear prescription error that could harm a patient, and the pharmacist catches it, who takes credit if the patient recovers—and who takes the blame if it goes wrong? Why is the inter-professional rivalry between doctors and pharmacists in Nigeria so fierce?
Dr. Barn retweeted
Less than 3 hours and X found me clean! I am sure she has gotten the update for her report too. You cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stand.
Dr. Barn retweeted
We need to hold the regulatory bodies and the pharmacists responsible for stocking and selling substandard drugs.
No one should be selling for patient consumption any grade of generic drugs below AA and AB ratings.
Dr. Barn retweeted
Other professions tend to view the doctor’s authority as an attempt to degrade their profession's value. However, in high-stakes environments, you can’t run patients’ care by debates. Someone must have the final authority to weigh inputs, make the call, and absorb the liability.
Doctors will fight pharmacists.
Doctors will fight nurses.
Doctors will fight radiographers.
Doctors will fight physiotherapists.
Doctors will fight scientists.
Doctors will fight chemists.
Doctors will fight nutritionists.
Doctors will fight anatomists.
Doctors will fight even porters.
A small-minded, ego-driven, and problematic profession.
And mind you, none of these professions is interested in taking over their roles. Yet, you'll find doctors everywhere trying to take over other professions' roles and suppress their growth.
And then you wonder why healthcare is suffering in Nigeria.
