Facts About Pharmacists and Pharmacies
New Brunswick has approximately 830 licensed pharmacists and 220 pharmacies. While some pharmacists own and/or practice in community pharmacies, others practice as part of a team of healthcare professionals serving patients in hospitals, long-term care facilities, special care homes and other healthcare institutions. Additionally, some pharmacists’ work includes teaching in universities, consulting, and working in government and industry.
Responsibilities/Activities of a Pharmacist:
- Reviewing medications and collaborating with patients and other healthcare providers to ensure optimal therapy for each patient’s condition
- Setting therapeutic goals with patients
- Reviewing prescriptions as appropriate therapy
- Educating patients and other healthcare professionals on the administration, uses and effects of medications, drug incompatibilities and contraindications
- Advising patients on selection and use of non-prescription medication
- Leading or participating in research into the development of new drugs, improvement of patient/client outcomes or pharmaco-economic evaluation of drug therapy
- Formulating and testing new drug products
- Coordinating clinical investigations of new drugs
- Developing information materials on the uses and properties of particular drugs
- Providing information services about drug products and pharmacotherapy
- Evaluating the labeling, packaging and advertising of drug products
Pharmacists supervise and may also perform technical tasks such as compounding and/or dispensing pharmaceutical products, maintaining medication profiles of patients and registries of poisons, narcotics and controlled drugs, ensuring proper storage of vaccines, serums, biologicals and other pharmaceutical products and ordering/maintaining a stock of pharmaceutical supplies.
To locate a pharmacist in your area, please click here.
