N.J. Admin. Code § 8:43G-23.6

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 21, November 4, 2024

Section 8:43G-23.6 - Pharmacy patient services

(a) Pharmaceutical services shall be available to patients at all times.

(b) The hospital shall have in effect a unit dose drug distribution system with individual cassettes or containers that bear the patient's identification. The system shall cover at least the medical/surgical, obstetric, pediatric, and psychiatric units and include scheduled cart exchanges at least every 24 hours, including weekends and holidays.

1. The hospital may substitute an alternative method of distributing drugs for the unit dose drug distribution system if the hospital demonstrates to the Department that the method has at least equivalent clinical effectiveness and the Department approves the use of the alternative method.

(c) The dispensing of fractional and multiple dosages shall be at the discretion of the pharmacy and therapeutics committee or its equivalent, provided cautionary instructions and ancillary information about these dosages are communicated to the personnel responsible for administering them.

(d) The pharmacy service shall develop and implement a system of control for legend drug doses. A pharmacist licensed to practice pharmacy in New Jersey shall check each cassette or container of drugs prepared by supportive personnel, as defined at 13:39-1.2, before it is delivered to a patient care unit.

(e) The hospital shall have a pharmacy-based intravenous infusion admixture program, which includes services related to preparation of total parenteral nutrition, antineoplastic agents, and large and small, continuous or intermittent volume products for infusion. A pharmacist licensed to practice pharmacy in New Jersey, or supportive personnel, as defined at 13:39-1.2, shall prepare, sterilize if necessary, and label parenteral medications and solutions, except in those areas or situations that have been excluded by the pharmacy and therapeutics committee or its equivalent.

(f) Cautionary instructions and ancillary information about medications shall be communicated in writing to the personnel responsible for administering medications.

(g) All medication orders shall specify the name of the drug, dose, frequency, and route of administration, and shall be dated and signed (or approved by authorization code if ordered through computer entry) by the prescriber.

(h) Allergies, including allergy to latex, shall be documented in the patient's pharmacy profile.

(i) Drugs in single dose or single use containers which are open or which have broken seals, drugs in containers missing drug source and exact identification (such as lot number), and outdated medications shall be returned to the pharmacy for disposal.

(j) Initials or identifying codes shall be used by pharmacy personnel, and a list of these initials or codes and the corresponding printed or typed names and signatures shall be kept for at least five years after termination of pharmacy service employment.

(k) Current antidote information shall be provided in the pharmacy. The telephone number of the designated Statewide or regional New Jersey Poison Information and Education System (1-800-962-1253) shall be provided in the pharmacy and in each patient care unit or area.

(l) Current Federal and State drug law information shall be available to the pharmacy service.

(m) Drug product defects shall be reported in accordance with the drug product problem reporting system of the United States Pharmacopoeia or of the Food and Drug Administration.

N.J. Admin. Code § 8:43G-23.6

Amended by R.1992 d.72, effective 2/18/1992.
See: 23 N.J.R. 2590(a), 24 N.J.R. 590(a).
Written communication specified at (f).
Amended by R.1999 d.436, effective 12/20/1999.
See: 31 N.J.R. 367(a), 31 N.J.R. 614(a), 31 N.J.R. 4293(c).
In (h), inserted a reference to allergy to latex.

Amended by 53 N.J.R. 703(a), effective 5/3/2021