Omnicare Clinical Nursing Podcast Series

For today's topic, we will be discussing the process of Admitting a Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) patient to your facility. We will review what TPN is, when it is typically chosen as a nutritional option for residents, and considerations for needed admission documentation, storage considerations, and general tips for caring for your TPN residents.

In this episode, we will be discussing dehydration in the elderly. We will discuss the prevalence of dehydration in the elderly population, and the importance of prevention and identification of early signs and symptoms that may lead to better outcomes and prevention.  And finally, we will discuss key strategies that will optimize patient safety and improve quality care for our elderly population.

In this episode we will discuss some risk factors for developing osteoporosis, signs and symptoms of osteoporosis, and treatments available after being diagnosis with osteoporosis. .

In this episode, we discuss strategies to incorporate in the daily care of our resident's to reduce or prevent falls, assessment of the resident and the importance of educating the resident to prevent falls.

In this episode, we discuss assessment best practices, the types of pain and how a resident might describe each type of pain, complications of pain, common medications and their side effects. We will also talk about non-pharmacological interventions for pain. 

The Center for Disease Control (or CDC) estimates that one third of residents in long term care has heart failure and approximately 1 in 4 persons will develop heart failure in their lifetime. Today, our discussion will cover how to recognize and signs and symptoms of heart failure and understanding the treatment options (and teaching opportunities) in post-acute care settings. 

Omnicare nurse experts we will be discussing the safe administration, storage, and handling of Flu vaccines.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an annual influenza vaccine is the "best protection" to reduce the risk of influenza and its potentially serious complications. This information is intended to help provide important guidance toward safe administration, storage, and handling practices for you and your staff.

For today's topic, we will be discussing depression as it relates to our older population, recognizing signs and symptoms, and nursing assessment & interventions to ensure patient safety and improve patient care.

For today's topic, we will be discussing psychotropic medications as they relate to nursing considerations for behavior monitoring, side effect tracking, and care planning for the care of your residents taking psychotropic medications.

For today's topic, we will be discussing chronic kidney disease and nursing considerations for the care of residents with this diagnosis.

For this topic, we will be discussing the importance of anticoagulant therapy, what it is, what to avoid, what to watch for, and what to report.

Continuous Glucose Monitors are small devices that are affixed to a patient's skin to continuously monitor glucose levels in real-time. Its accuracy has been validated and usage has increased in recent years. CGM is a useful option for many people with diabetes. Based on customer demand for information about CGM devices.  It's our hope that we will be able to answer questions you may have or provide information that will help you manage patients' continuous glucose monitors.

According to the American College of Preventive Medicine, “vaccines are considered to be one of the most successful advancements in the history of public health”. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes Vaccine Confidence as “the belief that vaccines are effective, safe, and part of a trustworthy medical system”. This episode discusses Vaccine Confidence by providing key information in each of these areas, as well as answers to common questions, using the COVID-19 vaccines as an example. This can serve as a great supporting resource for facility staff.

In this episode, we will discuss vaccine handling, storage, and administration including the indications for RSV, influenza, and COVID-19 vaccines. Some questions answered are, how they administered, tips from the CDC, contraindications and precautions, minimizing adverse events, and, though rare, how to address the possibility of anaphylaxis. In addition, we will provide resources that every facility should have on hand. 

Because patient safety is always an important topic!  This episode covers the how and why of priming insulin pens.  Correct usage of insulin pens is important because it helps prevent under dosing and overdosing, and for ensuring the insulin delivery is consistent and effective for managing blood sugar levels. 

Today's episode contains a ton of crucial education for you and your facility staff regarding IV tips and best practices. Administering IV medications can be quite complex depending on the therapy.  Today's podcast is a concise summary of the most important tips that Omnicare Infusion Educators wanted to share with our listeners. You'll find answers to questions you didn't even know you had!

For today's topic, we will be unraveling any confusion revolving around catheter flushing and locking orders.  We will discuss the difference between flushing and locking. “Flushing” and “Locking” are not the same.  How can you leverage the use of your eMAR to trigger the correct order? What must the prescriber's order include? Why does Omnicare still utilize heparin in their IV protocols to lock catheters? We will answer these questions and more!

Today's episode will cover the vascular access services that Omnicare offers and will answer your questions such as: Does Omnicare employ vascular access nurses to perform this service?  How would a facility contact an agency? What happens when the agency nurse arrives at one of our centers and how log does it take? Who is responsible for obtaining consent? 

As a facility leader, you strive to ensure that your clinical staff are consistently providing competent care. How can you leverage the resources provided by Omnicare to objectively validate facility infusion education and staff knowledge and improve care outcomes?  Listen to today's podcast, where we will discuss the facility assessment of staff infusion education and competencies as they relate to infusion therapy. 

Omnicare Consultant Pharmacists have created a library of tools for customers to help optimize the medication pass, which can improve efficiency, reduce waste, and lower the risk for medication errors. This podcast reviews the tools to determine how your med pass can improve the focus on resident care.

This episode marks the launch of Omnicare's "One Pump. One Patient." campaign which is directed at mitigating the risk of transmitting pathogens through the improper use of infusion pumps.

We often see Vancomycin administered to treat patients diagnosed with bacteremia osteomyelitis, endocarditis, pneumonia and cellulitis (just to name a few).  This podcast will provide a review of the importance of Vancomycin laboratory monitoring and side effects to prevent injury and re-hospitalizations.

This year's flu season is predicted to be a challenging one. Hypodermoclysis can be a great addition to your infusion therapy toolbox to meet the hydration needs of our patient population. Hypodermoclysis or "clysis" as it is often called, is cost effective, easy to administer, and is safer than IV rehydration, but many nurses and even some physicians are unfamiliar with the procedure.  Listen now for tips from the experts!

In this episode, we discuss the advantages of developing a TPN clinical program at your facility and how to navigate through admitting and managing TPN patients.

This episode discusses recommendations on how to minimize the potential for exposure to infection during a medication pass. This is helpful information for Omnicare customers and non-customers alike.

As we begin recovery efforts post COVID-19, the discussion around infection control practices during the medication pass has become the focus of many. COVID 19 brought Infection Control measures to a whole new level. Our focus now is to look at lessons learned from COVID by improving infection control efforts, protect the vulnerable residents in our long-term care facilities, while still providing the care they require. 

Our topic in this episode is Medication Availability for Omnicare customers. Specifically, troubleshooting to determine root cause and help you find your resident's medications, quickly!  We are excited to provide these podcasts to answer some of the many questions we get from our facility nurses and staff across the United States.

Learn about how Post-Acute/LTC Pre-Survey Audits can assist you and your staff in preparation for your annual survey.  The Quality Review is one of the most extensive audits that we perform. It's designed to identify potential survey issues that are related to the facility's delivery of pharmacy services.  Listen to the podcast for more information!

For today's topic, we will be discussing enteral nutrition; specifically, how it relates to the administration of medications including proper administration practices, potential interactions, care planning, and survey guidance. 

Today's podcast focuses on Aseptic Non-Touch Technique, also known as ANTT.  ANTT provides a standardized approach to educate and teach the clinician to reduce hospital aquired infections. The practices and principles are designed for all invasive clinical procedures that involve a risk of infection to the patient, including the  insertion and management of all vascular access devices.