PGY1 resident Carolyn O’Donnell awarded by CPNP

O’Donnell presented Perceptions of Adverse Drug Reactions amongst Healthcare Professionals within Inpatient State Psychiatric Facilities at the Virtual 2021 CPNP Annual Meeting.

There are many reports suggesting that adverse drug reactions (ADR) may not be reported as often as they occur, which can impact patient care.

“We wanted to gather perceptions and potential bias from an interdisciplinary panel of pharmacists, physicians and nurses about the reporting process to see if we could identify any barriers that might make it challenging for a healthcare professional to report an ADR,” O’Donnell says.

A survey was developed and sent to health care professionals in 25 New York State psychiatric facilities. The majority of respondents, while moderately confident in ADR reporting, noted there were some barriers to reporting, including a lack of information about the ADR and a lack of clarity on how to report it. This resulted in a discussion about the need to streamline the reporting process and a consensus on shared definitions of ADRs.

“Our hope is that we can work to improve the ADR reporting process, training and clarity on the definition of an ADR to encourage reporting and to improve patient care overall,” O’Donnell says.

O’Donnell, a resident at the New York State Office of Mental Health at the Buffalo Psychiatric Center, received her Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Minnesota. Her professional interests include mental health, substance use disorders, leadership, quality improvement and academia.

The College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists works directly with patients and caregivers to apply specialized clinical knowledge and skills, educate and train healthcare professionals, and develop new knowledge in order to improve health outcomes for those individuals with psychiatric disorders, including substance use and neurologic disorders.