Provision of pharmaceutical care in the intensive care unit

The highly specialized knowledge and skills necessary to care for critically ill patients requires a team approach involving physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other health care providers. The role of the pharmacist in the intensive care unit is evolving rapidly to a new responsibility for ensuring definite drug therapy outcomes that improve the patient's quality of life. The provision of pharmaceutical care by pharmacists involves identifying, resolving, and preventing drug-related problems. Many medication errors, adverse drug reactions, drug interactions, and inappropriate therapies can be avoided, which will certainly benefit the patient as well as the nursing professions.