Pharmacist joins multidisciplinary team of providers in the Emergency Department

In the Emergency Department at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, patients are cared for by a team of providers that includes doctors, physician assistants, nurses, unit service techs and now a pharmacist.

Clinical Pharmacy Specialist Meaghan Paris, PharmD, BCPS, has been working in the ED about 15 days a month since the fall of 2018. “Her goal is to integrate into the team,” says Director of Pharmacy Services Brian Zikaras, PharmD. “She is a great resource to have down there.”

In fact, Paris now does medication reconciliation, answers drug information questions, does interventions on orders, goes to codes and intubations and does patient education during her days in the ED. She says “My eyes are trained to recognize different things. While the physicians and nurses recognize physical things, I am concentrating on the role a patient’s medications might be playing in what’s going on or how we can manage what’s going on with new medication.”

Paris was first introduced to life in the ED during her pharmacy residency at Boston Medical Center. When she joined the team at BWFH, she was eager to work in the ED. “I love the chaos. It’s fast paced and there is always something different,” she says of the environment. “The continuous learning is what I like the best.”

The team in the ED is thrilled to have a new member on their team. Zikaras says, “She can talk about the different medications being used in the ED. And if someone is having trouble learning how to use a medication or needs help figuring out how to administer a medication, she can help. She can also help with codes and during discharge planning if a patient is having difficulty getting their medications.”