More than 4,400 staff members at the NHS serve a population of 434,000 across 12 municipalities in a variety of settings, including full-service acute care, community hospital care, primary care, transitional care and rehabilitation, and outpatient assessment and treatment. It is precisely this wide variety of environments that provides health-care professionals with the unique opportunity to pursue their goals in care settings that suit their individual needs. An overview of our specialty care services includes: Regional Vascular, Dialysis, Tissue Viability, Palliative, Stroke Care and Mental Health.
Working in pharmacy at the NHS affords ongoing opportunities to tackle a wide variety of professional challenges. Our pharmacists are deployed to all areas of patient care, where they work closely with other members of the health-care team to develop individualized therapeutic programs for patients. Their knowledge and expertise help them formulate optimal drug treatment plans that best addresses each patient’s needs and maximizes their quality of life.
Pharmacists engage in a wide spectrum of professional activities that include order entering, dispensing medication, reviewing medication requests, monitoring the efficacy of patients’ medication regimens, and providing drug information to patients and other members of the multidisciplinary team. A major initiative now underway at NHS hospitals to enhance patient safety is the Automated Unit Dose Drug Distribution system.  This system is supported with automated dispensing cabinets for most nursing units as well as computer generated medication administration records and Pharmacy IV admixture program.

 

Focusing On Your Professional Development
Pharmacists are able to build their careers at the NHS while receiving professional development training in preparation for potential leadership positions. Their professional development is also enhanced through participation in on-site continuing education initiatives such as our monthly speaker series, which covers the latest medication trends in areas such as infectious diseases, cardiology and hypertension.
Off-site, pharmacists may take part in seminars held by industry organizations such as the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists and the Ontario Pharmacy Association.
In nurturing the spirit of learning at the NHS, all pharmacists share what they have learned from their professional development experiences with other members of the pharmacy team. They also contribute their knowledge to help guide and improve health-care delivery by participating in hospital groups such as the Medicine Program, Pharmacy Nursing Professional Practice Council and Regular Rounds for Chronic Care. Learning at the NHS also takes place through the innovative research projects at the hospital, and in the past, pharmacists have participated in research initiatives concerning oncology and orthopaedic medications.

Bringing Out the Best in Each Other
The NHS is dedicated to cultivating a work environment in which staff bring out the best in each other, with the strategic goal of making the NHS a place where staff, physicians and volunteers choose to work. Our pharmacists enjoy working in a setting marked by cooperation, communication and professionalism. They regularly collaborate with physicians, nurses, rehab therapists and other health professionals to effectively assess and treat patients and monitor their progress.

We are committed to providing a healthy workplace, and are pleased to have a “Quality of Worklife” department in place. The NHS is also completing its fifth year of a five-year Performance Excellence Initiative that builds on both leadership and frontline involvement to fulfil its goal of becoming a health-care employer and provider of choice. At the foundation of this initiative are our core values of compassion, professionalism and respect, which guide all efforts to achieve our five success factors: focus on those we serve; bring out the best in each other; build strong, successful relationships; create a better way; and use our resources wisely.