A Pharmacist’s Primer on Antimicrobial Resistance: Part 1

You feel like you’re finally starting to get the hang of what drugs cover what bugs in what infection. You’ve had some classic ID patient cases and have successfully chosen appropriate therapy. But then surprise, the latest bacterial culture returns resistant. Well, crap. How did that happen, and what do you do now? In this first post of our antimicrobial resistance series, we’re going to start the conversation of how bugs are changing the game on us.

Clinical, Pharmacy School, Practice, ResidencyStephanie KujawskiDecember 2, 2024antimicrobial resistance stewardship, how do bacteria become resistant to antibiotics, how many people are affected and die from antimicrobial antibiotic resistance, resistant bugs treatment, efflux pumps porins plasmids vertical horizontal transmission, innate vs acquired resistance bacteria

The Pharmacist's Quick Guide to tPA for Acute Ischemic Strokes

It may be long overdue, but we are finally filling another big ol’ content hole on our site. It’s time to dive into acute ischemic strokes. Let us give you the rundown on fibrinolytics and their use in this time-dependent disease state so you can have the info handy at your fingertips. Because remember…TIME IS BRAIN!

Clinical, Pharmacy School, Practice, ResidencyStephanie KujawskiNovember 18, 2024acute ischemic stroke, stroke tpa alteplase tenecteplase, fibrinolytics for stroke, stroke befast nihss, dosing of tpa

Heart Failure Part 3: Pharmacotherapy

Ok, so now onto pharmacotherapy - now updated to reflect the 2022 Guidelines!

Last time we talked about signs and symptoms and discussed the Frank-Starling curve. We are going to talk about the agents used in HF and how they affect this curve.

Clinical, Residency, PracticeBrandon DysonNovember 5, 2024heart failure, systolic heart failure, diastolic heart failure, HFpEF, HFrEF, HF, CHF, Clinical Pearls, congestive heart failure, cardiovascular, digoxin

What Every Pharmacist Should Know about Enteral Nutrition and Medications

Wait…I thought tl;dr was a pharmacy site. Why are we posting about nutrition? Isn’t that someone else’s responsibility? Well, surprise surprise. We pharmacists often have to play in the nutrition sandbox! From medication and nutrient interactions to considerations for absorption and clinical effect, there’s a wide world of pharmacy-related topics to cover when it comes to enteral nutrition.

Clinical, Pharmacy School, Practice, ResidencyStephanie KujawskiOctober 21, 2024enteral nutrition, tube feeding, nasogastric NG tube, malnutrition for pharmacists, medication administration with tube feeds, drug interactions with enteral nutrition, enteral nutrition formulations, complications of tube feeds enteral nutrition

A Thorough Note on Nuclear Pharmacy

Just when you think tl;dr has introduced you to all the various avenues for practicing pharmacy, spoiler alert...we missed one. Introducing the wonderful world of nuclear pharmacy! From radioactive isotopes to Geiger counters to calibration times, this post is a fascinating overview of a lesser known pharmacy field. Come learn what our nuclear colleagues do and how you can be a part of this world should you choose.

Pharmacy School, Clinical, Practice, Residency, ProfessionalStephanie KujawskiOctober 7, 2024nuclear pharmacy, radiopharmaceuticals, how to become a nuclear pharmacist, what is it like to do nuclear pharmacy, what are radioactive drugs

The tl;dr Pharmacy Journal Club: Voxelotor in Sickle Cell Disease (HOPE Trial)

It’s journal club time! If you've been paying attention to the news this week, you probably saw that Pfizer is voluntarily withdrawing Oxbryta (voxelotor) from the market due to safety concerns. This is an inherent (and unfortunate) risk for drugs approved under the FDA's accelerated approval pathway. Even though the drug itself bit the dust, this journal club still holds up!

A Pharmacist's Fact Versus Fiction: Antibiotic Edition - Part 2

If we didn't turn your pharmacy world upside down enough with our first myth debunking post, give us another shot with Part 2 here. This second post is chock full of more fact versus fiction antibiotic information to help you think critically about your own pharmacy practices. Happy continuous learning!

Clinical, Pharmacy School, Practice, ResidencyStephanie KujawskiSeptember 24, 2024bactrim septra aki renal injury serum creatinine increase, using LR lactated ringers fluid in sepsis septic shock, nitrofurantoin use in renal dysfunction is it effective, can you use augmentin for acinetobacter infections, doxycycline in kids pediatrics teeth discoloration, using once doses of ahminoglycosides for UTIs

A Pharmacist's Fact Versus Fiction: Antibiotic Edition – Part I

Sure, we know it's awkward when you realize that something you were 1000% confident was correct...isn't. We've all been there. But the beauty of being a pharmacist is that you can (and should) constantly be learning something new! Don't stagnate, or you may become obsolete. Let tl;dr introduce you to some important concepts that just might turn your pharmacy world upside down...for the better.

Clinical, Pharmacy School, Practice, ResidencyStephanie KujawskiSeptember 9, 2024cefdinir for cystitis, Bactrim monotherapy for SSTI skin soft tissue infections, amoxicillin augmentin unasyn for VRE, metrogel trichomoniasis, beta lactam cross allergenicity side chains

How Low Can You Go?: A Clinician's Overview of Anemia

Sure, you may not think a low hemoglobin is all that pharmaceutically sexy… BUT guess what?!? There’s more to it than you might think! Take a few minutes to learn about some of the most common causes of anemia, and we bet you’ll be able to apply this to your patients every single day.

Clinical, Pharmacy School, Practice, ResidencyCourtney HowellSeptember 9, 2024anemia, iron deficiency, B12 deficiency, folate deficiency, microcytic, macrocytic, low hemoglobin

Pharmacogenomics and Precision Medicine Part 3

ICYMI, we've already published 2 fantastic chapters introducing you to the world of genetics and medications. Even if you don't think you'll ever encounter this in practice, you might just be surprised to learn that even medications as common as oxycodone can be influenced by genetics! So come delve into the final chapter of this fascinating series to learn about ways we might be able to optimize our patients' experiences - and results - with medications.

Clinical, Pharmacy School, Practice, ResidencyStephanie KujawskiAugust 26, 2024pharmacogenomics genetic testing medicines, 5-FU capecitabine tegafur genetic testing dypd dpd enzyme, opioids and genetics cyp2d6 pain meds, abacavir hypersensitivity hlab5701 hla testing, what genetic tests should people receive before starting medications

NICU Series Part 6: Neonatal Pharmacokinetics and Infectious Diseases

Awww, you’ve waited 9 loooong months. You’ve had sleepless nights. You’ve done your homework, prepared by reading as much as you can, and you’re ready to welcome…an adorable bundle of NICU article joy?!?! That’s right! After a bit of a hiatus, it’s time for tl;dr to return to our NICU Miniseries with this bundle of infectious diseases information.

Clinical, Pharmacy School, Practice, ResidencyStephanie KujawskiAugust 13, 2024NICU pharmacotherapy, NICU infectious diseases, pharmacokinetics of newborns NICU, how do babies differ from kids and adults in drug metabolism, PK of neonates, TORCH bugs neonates, neonatal sepsis treatment bacteria

Heart Failure Part 2: Signs and Symptoms

In our last post, we talked about the hemodynamics of HF. We talked about Right and Left HF as well as Systolic and Diastolic HF (now called HFrEF and HFpEF, respectively). Now let’s talk about the Signs and Symptoms of Heart Failure (HF).

Clinical, Residency, PracticeCourtney HowellAugust 12, 2024heart failure, systolic heart failure, diastolic heart failure, congestive heart failure, cardiovascular, pathophysiology, Clinical Pearls, PCWP, CKD, Guest Post, CHF, HF, HFpEF, HFrEF