Pharmacy Career Options: Inpatient Pharmacist
If you’re considering a pharmacy career, you may want to consider one as an inpatient pharmacist.
This article will describe what an inpatient pharmacist does, what type of education and training is needed, and the salary you could expect.
An inpatient pharmacist generally is a licensed pharmacist who works in a hospital pharmacy. He or she provides care to patients in the hospital (hence the term “inpatient pharmacist”) as well as ambulatory patients who visit the hospital for outpatient services.
Inpatient pharmacists make sure a recommended drug therapy is appropriate for a particular patient and does so by collaborating with other members of the patient’s healthcare team. An inpatient pharmacist also manages the therapy for selected individual patients and reports on problems and medication errors.
The inpatient pharmacist can often assist with a patient’s discharge planning, and verifies that a patient understands why he or she has been prescribed a certain medication, the outcome it should deliver and any possible side effects..
As with all licensed pharmacists, an inpatient pharmacist must have a current license to practice as a pharmacist in the state of he or she seeks employment. To become a licensed pharmacist, an individual almost always must receive training in pharmacy from an accredited pharmacy school.
Most inpatient pharmacists should have at least one or two years’ professional experience from a clinical setting, and a residency can mean as much as five (5) years of experience. Inpatient pharmacists can easily transition as a pharmacist in another setting (a retail pharmacy, often) in order to supplement income.
The average salary for all inpatient pharmacists in all states is $108,000, according to Indeed.com. Salaries can be higher or lower depending on the number of years an inpatient pharmacist has been practicing as well as on the hospital’s location (rural area vs. large city). For example, Indeed.com reports that an inpatient pharmacist in San Francisco, California averages $140,000, while an inpatient pharmacist salary averages $105,000 in Des Moines, Iowa.
If you’re an inpatient pharmacist looking for new opportunities, send your CV/resume to the recruiters at Rx relief®. We have many great opportunities available for pharmacists of all specialties. Contact us today to learn more.
