A Brief Apology

I haven't forgotten about you. It's been a busy couple of weeks here. My brother got married as well as a few other, not-so-happy family dramas that I can't really share here. I will be back up and writing soon and trying to make up ground for the last two weeks. The next post will be about insulin pens and pumps and how they help bolster patient compliance in diabetes management.

Again, I'm very sorry for dropping off the planet.

C. Samuels

Drug Classes: Thiazolidinediones (TZDs)

Used to treat: Diabetes Mellitus II

Mechanism of Action: Decreases insulin resistance at receptor sites.

Contraindications: Liver disease, moderate to sever CHF, Increases risk of limb fractures in women, may decrease effectiveness of oral contraceptives

Safety with Needles and Syringes

While it is unlikely that a technician in a retail setting will need to use needles and syringes much, they are a part of the daily life of most hospital technicians. It is important to learn the safety procedures associated with needles to avoid injury or worse for you and your patient.

Interacting with Patients: A Fine Line

Pharmacy technicians must walk a fine line when interacting with patients in a pharmacy setting. Despite all of their responsibilities in assisting the pharmacist behind the counter, when it comes to the patient, their biggest responsibility is knowing when to shut their mouth.

Sunday Digest: 7/10/2011

So I've found lately that the FDA updates haven't had a lot of interesting material in them lately, but I do get interesting updates all week about all kinds of things, so I'm going to start including some of that in here. The end result (I hope) is that there will be more diversity, interesting and relevant material in the Sunday updates.

Calculations With Insulin

Although calculations with insulin are just as simple as any other sort of pharmacy calculation, a lot of technicians allow it to get the better of them. Calculating with insulin is simple if you remember that you're working with units instead of milliliters. For the moment, we're going to ignore concentrated insulin; we'll get to that later.

Drug Classes: Insulins

Contains information about:

• Rapid-Acting Insulins
• Short-Acting Insulins
• Intermediate-Acting Insulins
• Long-Acting Insulins