contacting hospital pharmacy...

I generally think our pharmacy does a good job providing information about meds or getting meds up the ED that we don't keep in our pyxis. I did have one incident recently, and I was wondering if others had a similar experience. A pt had an order for 2 IM meds (I believe dilaudid and solumedrol, but I'm not 100% sure that this was what it was). Anyway, in an attempt to only have to give the pt one injection, not two, I wanted to see if the 2 meds were compatible in a syringe. I used Micromedex on the computer and it listed them as "Variable: use caution." I called the pharmacy and asked the pharmacist. After a few moments (during which time I heard some keystrokes) he told me "it says here, 'Variable: use caution.'" To be safe, I just gave it as 2 shots. I know I don't know everything about nursing, and I certainly don't expect the pharmacist to know everything possible about every medication they dispense; however, it was a bit frustrating to spend 10 mintues on hold to get an 'answer' that I already looked up on my own.

Thoughts, comments, experience, suggestions? Thanks!
When I called the pharmacy one time about compatibility I told them that I had already looked it up on Micromedex and just wanted to confirm what I found out they told me that was how they checked compatibility. Since that time I just look it up on Micromedex saves me and the pharmacist time. I will still sometimes call on ones that say use caution or variable to see if the pharmacist has an direct knowledge.

It's been my experience that pharmacists use a lot of the same resources we do, but they do have alternate resources plus the inserts from meds, and YEARS of experience. For that reason I always do my own research and then if there is any doubt, consult the pharmacy. I have learned a lot by talking to pharmacists and I am sure similar situations will come up as stated above, but there are times you may learn something not easily found in a reference, so I always think it is worthwhile to use them as one of the many tools available.

I've found the pharmacists to be a help when the "Variable" note comes up. I know they use other sources and a lot of them know what the variability is, I've had them say stuff like "O, there's only a problem at higher doseages, you're fine at your doseage." We're very very lucky in that we have our own unit pharmacist on the floor during the day M-F. She's worth her weight in gold.