Long Term Care Pharmacist - Career Profile |
Career OverviewA long term care pharmacist specializes in providing medicines and drug treatments for long term care facilities. This means that a long term care pharmacist works with group homes, nursing homes, assisted living facilities and other residential facilities where patients will be admitted and retained for significant amounts of time.
The long term care pharmacist either works on-site at these centers or works on a consultant basis having regularly scheduled hours or days at a variety of long term care facilities. The long term care pharmacist works with both the patients and the staff depending on the ability of the patient to self-medicate or self-monitor.
The long term care pharmacist provides information to the staff, may make recommendations for changes in medications or drug therapies, or may participate in treatment team meetings.
Usually a long term care pharmacist does not complete excessive on-call time nor are there usually weekend or evening shifts involved. Often all billing is handled by the hospital or healthcare facility so all the long term care pharmacist is required to monitor is the prescriptions and other data required by law.
The long term care pharmacist should be a compassionate individual that is willing to take the time to work with patients that have special needs. He or she should have excellent written and oral communication skills and should enjoy working in a team treatment environment.
The long term care pharmacist must be willing to travel to various facilities if they provide consultation and services to multiple care homes or residential treatment centers.
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Career RequirementsLong term care pharmacists have the same qualifications as other pharmacists in the state or area. This means that they are licensed by completing the North American Pharmacists Licensure Exam and completing a Doctor in Pharmacy degree. In some states a pharmacist may also be required to write the Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Exam to demonstrate their knowledge of the legal issues regarding pharmacies.
Many long term care pharmacists also have background as infusion pharmacists, compounding pharmacists or clinical pharmacists.
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Job OutlookAs the population ages and more individuals enter long term care facilities the demand for pharmacists with this specialized training will continue to grow. The United States Department of Labor anticipates that the demand for long term care pharmacists will increase at above average rates until at least the year 2014.
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Career TrackA long term care pharmacist has several options depending on their location and years of experience. Some long term care pharmacists choose to enter into a more clinical setting as hospital or hospice pharmacist, whereas others choose to enter into management options.
Long term care pharmacists that work as consultants may be able to start their own long term care pharmacy and employ other long term care pharmacists to manage several nursing homes or residential centers in the same area.
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CompensationDepending on the type of long term care pharmacist, either in-house or consulting, the average salary will range between $80,000 to $100,000. Generally a long term care pharmacists makes slightly less than a pharmacist working in a community based retail or drug store.
Those long term care pharmacists that work as consultants to several facilities often earn significantly more than community or retail pharmacists.
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