Call for Articles

North Carolina Pharmacist (NCP) is currently accepting articles for publication consideration. We accept a diverse scope of articles, including but not limited to: original research, quality improvement, medication safety, case reports/case series, reviews, clinical pearls, unique business models, technology, and opinions.

NCP is a peer-reviewed publication intended to inform, educate, and motivate pharmacists, from students to seasoned practitioners, and pharmacy technicians in all areas of pharmacy.

Articles written by students, residents, and new practitioners are welcome. Mentors and preceptors – please consider advising your mentees and students to submit their appropriate written work to NCP for publication.

Don’t miss this opportunity to share your knowledge and experience with the North Carolina pharmacy community by publishing an article in NCP.

Click on Guidelines for Authors for information on formatting and article types accepted for review.

For questions, please contact Tina Thornhill, PharmD, FASCP, BCGP, Editor, at tina.h.thornhill@ gmail.com

Official Journal of the North Carolina Association of Pharmacists

1101 Slater Road, Suite 110 Durham, NC 27703

Phone: (984) 439-1646

Fax: (984) 439-1649 www.ncpharmacists.org

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Tina Thornhill

LAYOUT/DESIGN

Rhonda Horner-Davis

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

Anna Armstrong

Jamie Brown

Lisa Dinkins

Jean Douglas

Brock Harris

Amy Holmes

John Kessler

Angela Livingood

Bill Taylor

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Penny Shelton

PRESIDENT

Ouita Gatton

PRESIDENT-ELECT

Bob Granko

PAST PRESIDENT

Matthew Kelm

TREASURER

Ryan Mills

SECRETARY

Beth Caveness

Shane Garrettson, Chair, SPF

Carrie Baker, Chair, NPF

Katie Trotta, Chair, Community

Jeff Reichard, Chair, Health-System

Dave Phillips, Chair, Chronic Care

Andy Warren, Chair, Ambulatory

Riley Bowers, At-Large

Elizabeth Locklear, At-Large

Macary Weck Marciniak, At-Large

North Carolina Pharmacist (ISSN 0528-1725) is the official journal of the North Carolina Association of Pharmacists. An electronic version is published quarterly. The journal is provided to NCAP members through allocation of annual dues. Opinions expressed in North Carolina Pharmacist are not necessarily official positions or policies of the Association. Publication of an advertisement does not represent an endorsement. Nothing in this publication may be reproduced in any manner, either whole or in part, without specific written permission of the publisher.

A Few Things Inside

Hello!

My name is Ouita Gatton, and I am excited to be serving as your president this year for the 2023 North Carolina Association of Pharmacists (NCAP). These are exciting times for our Association, and I am so thankful to be on the front lines watching and helping great things occur.

I have had many roles during the 30-plus years I have been a pharmacist. I have been a coach, a teacher, a manager, and a leader. I have learned to say NO, to speak up during a misunderstanding, and made it a practice to learn something new every day from people that cross my path. Most of what I have learned had seeds sown early. I grew up in my family-run pharmacy and watched and learned from my dad what a pharmacist should look like. He was always my inspiration. I have worked to develop many of his characteristics to honor him and his memory. He is why I am so passionate about serving and participating in my state pharmacy association. He taught me early to learn how to be a diplomat and that “people are drawn to you if you drip honey rather than sour

2023 Is Set To Be Another Landmark Year For NCAP

candy.” These skills have served me well as I have learned to navigate life, especially in areas of pharmacy advocacy and advancement. I joined my state pharmacy association early in my career path and never looked back.

I have had the privilege to serve in many different roles with NCAP, including Chair of the Community Care Practice Academy, Member at large on the Board of Directors (BOD), and now President of the Association. I have met wonderful people who remain friends and colleagues to this day. I get to plan socials (just ask someone who came to the convention last year) and look for ways to connect with people to tell them what great things our pharmacy association has done and is doing. I look forward to meeting you this year at NCAP’s various events and hearing your life journey in pharmacy.

If you have been a member of NCAP for any length of time, you know that 2021 was a robust year for the Association. This year provided a long session of the North Carolina legislature, and bill passing is primary. After the COVID tsunami disruption, North Carolina was well-positioned to advance pharmacy practice in several different public health initiatives. For the first time, state standing orders were signed to give pharmacists the right to prescribe and dispense hormonal contraception to appropriate patients. They even brought together experts in the state to ensure appropriate pharmacists’ training and credentialing took place. Many of you have taken that training or plan to do so soon.

The past two years also marked the passage of standing orders for HIV PrEP, glucagon, smoking cessation, and prenatal vitamins. These are just a few recent accomplishments NCAP has completed in the best interest of patient care and pharmacist advancement. While this excellent work was taking place, continuing education was offered, conventions were held, and residency conferences took place…all back in person for relationship and network building.

2023 is gearing up to be even better. Lobbyists are preparing to introduce new legislation in this legislative long session that will address maintaining PREP amendments for pharmacists giving immunizations, test and treat, and expanded collaborative practice for pharmacists with the intent to also ask for payment and sustainability of services. If the Association is victorious in its work to pass all these efforts, pharmacists will have the ability to not only be properly trained for expanded expertise but to get paid for it as well.

The NCAP Annual Convention is preparing to give attendees time at the beach. For the first time, NCAP is hosting this event at the Beaufort Hotel from June 4-6. Please get your reservations in, as space is expected to fill early. Have no fear, though. There is always a Plan B for those who may not know they can come until the last minute. NCAP really wants to see you there.

Here are a few words for students that are engaged in the Association. Many of you have served in leadership capacities preparing you well for future roles in leadership. I am so grateful that our North Carolina schools put emphasis on leadership and pharmacy advocacy. Your institutions want the best health for the citizens of North Carolina. Your state pharmacy association wants that, too. If you remain in NC upon graduation, I encourage you to get involved or stay involved in NCAP. Every year there are more and more opportunities to serve on committees, task forces, and the BOD.

In closing, may I ask each reader to consider how you might serve as future partners and leaders in NCAP. The first step includes joining this association. NCAP is YOUR pharmacy association for North Carolina. You are needed. Every voice is needed. Pharmacy must unite and shout with loud voices. We are pharmacists, we matter, and our patients need us.

More to come next time!

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Edupharmtech.com

If the pharmacy profession had a psyche, then one might say our profession suffers from a myriad of stressors, most of which are outside of our control; however, the profession is also a victim of self-harm. I recently had the opportunity to speak, as a panelist, at the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Interim Conference in Orlando, Florida. The panel included executive directors from state pharmacy associations and boards of pharmacy. We were asked to speak to how schools of pharmacy could work collectively with our organizations to advance the profession. In our opening comments, we were asked to speak to a new challenge that we were facing and how it was being addressed. In my opening statement, I could have selected from a multitude of challenges but ended up settling on what I have dubbed the “Profession’s Self-Harm Cycle.” Our profession faces enough threats and challenges, and yet, our own profession’s actions and inactions serve to worsen the problems. If we had a patient that was self-harming, we would do everything possible to help that individual. We need to do the same for pharmacy, and it

Penny Shelton, PharmD, FASCP, FNCAP

Breaking The Profession’s Self-Harm Cycle

is up to us to break the self-harm cycle.

Where to start? First, many, if not most, pharmacists, student pharmacists, and technicians have minimal understanding of the interconnectedness between the state’s Pharmacy Practice Act, and what you are allowed to do in practice, and the role of your state pharmacy association. Scope of practice is determined by the Pharmacy Practice Act, and changing it requires legislation. The state pharmacy association is generally tasked with running legislation that helps to protect and advance the profession. Most pharmacists are unaware and choose not to join their state pharmacy association, which weakens the Association. When a profession silos itself and only cares about what directly impacts them or its sector of practice, this further weakens the profession. When the Association is weakened by non-joiners, apathy, or what’s in it for me mindsets, then the Association will not have the resources needed to protect and advance the profession. When threats like poor reimbursement lead to salary cuts, decreased hours, inadequate staffing, and a poor work environment due to individuals having to do more with less, then people in our profession become unhappy, unfulfilled, and disillusioned with the profession. Some discourage young bright minds from choosing pharmacy as a career. Enrollment in schools of pharmacy drops, faculty attrition occurs, and the existing faculty are asked to teach and do more with less. When stretched to the max, teaching and reinforcing things like the value of the state pharmacy association easily drop off the radar, and we then have uninformed graduates entering the workforce as non-joiners of their state pharmacy association. We go round and round, hurting our own profession. Everyone in our profession has a duty to help ensure their state’s pharmacy association is a strong association. We also have a duty to protect this profession by flipping the self-harm cycle to actions that enrich and nurture the profession. In 2023, NCAP will explore new ways that we can help break the self-harm cycle. We look forward to engaging with our members on this essential issue, for we are definitely stronger together.