Inpatient Pharmacist

Inpatient Pharmacist at County of Santa Clara

Under the direction of state and federal laws, regulations, and professional practice standards governing pharmacy in California, the Inpatient Pharmacist at County of Santa Clara is responsible for selecting, preparing, and distributing drugs, chemicals, solutions, and materials for medical and scientific use. This role involves functionally directing supportive personnel, providing clinical judgments for proper medication utilization and administration in collaboration with medical and nursing staff, and delivering patient counseling and medication education services.

This established eligible list will be used to fill Inpatient Pharmacist vacancies across multiple County of Santa Clara facilities: Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, O'Connor Hospital, Saint Louise Regional Hospital, and Regional Medical Center (transitioning to County ownership in April 2025). The inpatient pharmacies at these four county hospitals operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, ensuring continuous and comprehensive patient care for Santa Clara County residents.

Hospital Services Overview

Key services at each hospital include:

• Santa Clara Valley Medical Center: Level I Trauma, Burn Center, Primary Stroke Center, Level 4 NICU, Level 2 Pediatric Trauma, Rehabilitation Center, Acute Psychiatric Services, and Comprehensive Cancer Care Services.
• O’Connor Hospital: Cancer Care Center, STEMI program, and Primary Stroke Center.
• Saint Louise Regional Hospital: Primary Stroke Center and the only acute care hospital in southern Santa Clara County.
• Regional Medical Center: Projected to offer Level II Trauma, STEMI program, and Thrombectomy Capable Stroke Center upon County ownership in April 2025.

Typical Responsibilities

• Directs and participates in the stocking, inspection, storage, preparation, dispensing, and administration of medications in patient care areas.
• Functionally directs assigned personnel and operations within the designated pharmacy area.
• Prepares required reports on section activities.
• Ensures strict aseptic techniques are followed for sterile solution preparation and proper record completion.
• Advises patients on drug use, including proper use, storage, common side effects, and drug interactions.
• Monitors drug therapy safety and efficacy via computerized medication profiles.
• Participates in the management of medical emergencies, adverse drug interactions/reactions, and acute/chronic disease states.
• Contributes to the education of health-care practitioners.
• Provides drug information to prescribers and other healthcare professionals; assists in proper drug therapy selection and adjustment.
• Acts as pharmacist-in-charge when designated.
• Participates in Pharmacy and hospital committees.
• Initiates and contributes to drug use reviews, quality assurance programs, patient care audits, clinical drug investigations, and service delivery system development.
• Develops and utilizes systems for cost-effective fiscal management and reimbursement.
• Performs all duties of a professional pharmacist as defined by the Business and Professional Code.
• Performs other related duties as required.

Employment Standards & Qualifications

Candidates must possess an academic degree in Pharmacy from an accredited College of Pharmacy and a valid license to practice as a pharmacist in the State of California.

Knowledge Of

• Prescription and non-prescription drugs and products: indications, efficacy, dosage, mechanisms, fate, disposition, contraindications, and side effects.
• Influence of patient age, sex, concomitant disease states, concurrent drug therapy, foods, and diagnostic procedures on drug activity.
• Physiology, anatomy, pathology, chemistry, and mathematics as relevant to pharmacy practice.
• Major reference sources for drug information and ingestion questions.
• Pharmaceutical manufacturing methods.
• Legislation governing pharmacy practice, hospital pharmacy services, and hospital operations related to pharmacy.

Ability To

• Identify, achieve, maintain, and utilize relevant competencies for area of practice.
• Establish and maintain cooperative working relationships and provide functional direction to para-professional personnel.
• Effectively counsel patients on medication use, side effects, and storage.
• Effectively advise and consult with medical, nursing, and other personnel on drug properties.
• Use and evaluate information from appropriate reference sources and clinical literature.

Key skills/competency

• Clinical Pharmacy
• Medication Management
• Patient Counseling
• Aseptic Technique
• Drug Information
• Regulatory Compliance
• Quality Assurance
• Interdisciplinary Collaboration
• Emergency Response
• Pharmacy Operations