American journal of hospital pharmacy
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The shelf life of succinylcholine chloride injection at several pH values when stored at room temperature was evaluated. Solutions containing 20 mg/ml of succinylcholine chloride were stored at 25 and 40 degrees C. The reaction was studied at pH values ranging from 3.0 to 4.5. ⋯ Succinylcholine chloride decomposed at a considerably higher rate at 40 degrees C. Allowing for the effects of pH adjustment during manufacture and degradation during shipping, losses of 7.0% and 9.0% potency can be expected after storage at 25 degrees C for four and six weeks, respectively. Succinylcholine Chloride Injection, USP, should be stored in the refrigerator; if unbuffered succinylcholine chloride injection complying with USP pH limits must be stored at room temperature, it should not be kept for longer than four weeks.
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Perceptions of pharmacists' roles held by health professional students and faculty were evaluated by a projective cartoon technique. Cartoons of a pharmacist, a pharmacist and a physician, and a pharmacist and a nurse, all at a patient's bedside, were used as the survey instruments. From the dialogue provided by respondents in the cartoon conversational balloons, perceptions of the type of interaction, relationship between the figures, and pharmacists' role activities were determined. ⋯ Pharmacy and medical respondents perceived clinical roles for the pharmacist. In response to the pharmacist-nurse cartoon, traditional roles were illustrated for the pharmacists, and subordinate-authoritative relationships were seen in the interactions between pharmacists and nurses. The cartoon technique appeared to be useful in determining role perceptions.
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Formulas for ideal body weight (IBW) in men and women were derived from the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company height and weight tables. Regression determinations of median weight versus height were performed for men and women. A program for a minicomputer was developed to generate plots for small, medium, and large frame sizes and for subjects of all frame sizes. ⋯ More accurate estimates of IBW by frame size can be obtained using equations derived from the plots for men and women of each frame size. Estimates of IBW obtained by the widely used empirical method probably contain only minor errors. However, formulas derived from actual height and weight data should be used in pharmacokinetic determination of dosage regimens for some drugs.
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Basic information describing online literature-retrieval systems is presented; the power of online searching is also discussed. The equipment, expense involved, and training necessary to perform online searching efficiently is described. An individual searcher needs only a computer terminal and a telephone; by telephone, the searcher connects with an online vendor's computer at another location. ⋯ Using the International Pharmaceutical Abstracts database as an example, 17 access points to locating an article via an online system are compared with only two (the subject and author index entry) of a printed service. By searching online, one can search the published literature on a specific topic in a matter of minutes. An online search is very useful when limited information is available or the search question contains a term that is not in a printed index.