Nurse Practitioners: Pharmacology and Prescribing Conference - Brisbane 2021
Why Attend
If you are a Nurse Practitioner or are planning to become one, keeping your expanded practice up-to-date is essential. Attend this conference and learn about the latest trends influencing prescribing and practice. It includes:
- How to find credible medicines and prescribing information (quickly)
- Diabetes, asthma and gout – 2020 updates
- Deprescribing long-term medicines (including PPIs)
- Drug interactions – when to make a fuss
- How to safely start, switch and stop antidepressants
- Prescribing considerations in children and women transitioning from pregnancy to lactation
- Toxicological risks of tattoos
- Breakout rooms, essential networking opportunities and much, much more…
Don’t miss out! Book now!
Program
Acknowledgment of Country, Welcome, and Introduction to Conference
Drug Interactions – Detection, Prediction and Prevention: When to Make a Fuss
Drug interactions require a triage approach. When do you need to make a fuss? This session will discuss the detection, prediction and prevention of drug interactions and includes:
- What do you need to know about drug interactions?
- Where can Nurse Practitioners get credible information on drug interactions (quickly)?
- Which interactions between complementary medicine and conventional medicines should you be on alert for?
Starting, Switching and Stopping Antidepressants
This session will highlight the issues surrounding the prescription of antidepressants. Moreover, it will demonstrate how to overcome these issues to achieve safe and effective pharmacotherapeutic outcomes. It includes:
- What new medicines are available for type 2 diabetes?
- How do we now prescribe medicines for type 2 diabetes?
- What new insulins are available?
- Are new medicines on the horizon?
Translating Evidence into Everyday Practice - Management of Chronic Non-Cancer Pain
Nurse practitioners play a key role in the management of chronic non-cancer pain. This key session will:
- Update on the science of chronic non-cancer pain and current treatment approaches
- Discuss practical approaches to applying the current science to everyday practice
- Understand the role of nurse practitioners in the management of chronic non-cancer pain
Asthma – 2020 Treatment Update
Patient outcomes require that Nurse Practitioners are familiar with current treatment options for asthma. This session will focus on providing an evidenced update for the treatment of asthma, with a brief look at allergic rhinitis and aspirin-induced respiratory disease. It includes a review of current medications used in asthma. Discuss:
- How do you manage asthma in adults?
- What are the latest changes to treatment guidelines for the management of asthma?
BREAKOUT ROOMS: Select One
Breakout Room One – Allergies
‘Fake’ Penicillin Allergy and Antimicrobial Stewardship
Many patients are falsely labelled with a penicillin allergy either because their allergy has gone or they weren’t allergic in the first place. “Fake” penicillin allergies lead to inappropriate use of non-penicillin antibiotics, higher healthcare costs and contribute to antimicrobial resistance. What is the up-to-date pathway for managing patients who claim to penicillin or other antibiotic allergies? This session will discuss:
- How to differentiate between allergy and adverse reaction?
- Which antibiotic allergies require lifelong avoidance and which don’t?
- Why now is the time to unlearn everything you’ve ever learnt about penicillin allergies!
Breakout Room Two – Opioid Epidemic
Getting Real with the Opioid Epidemic
The opioid crisis rocking North America has led to widespread international coverage. What is the current state of play in Australia? This session will bring you up to speed on the topic and will:
- Discuss the current state of the opioid epidemic in Australia
- Evaluate the current evidence of opioids in pain management
- Understand the role of nurse practitioners in opioid rationalisation
Breakout Room Three – Gout
All About GOUT – Practical Approach to Management
Gout is a common inflammatory condition within joints. Gout is often considered “unimportant” and is associated with many myths and misconceptions. This session provides a practical approach to the management of gout. The session topics include:
- Discussing the pathophysiology of gout, its risk factors, and long-term complications
- Evaluating appropriate treatment to reach target serum urate levels
- Advising patients on nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic approaches to care
Aspirin in the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease
The benefits of low-dose aspirin use for secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease is well established. Up until recently, mixed data leaned toward a benefit for primary prevention as well. This presentation will discuss the results of three recent large-scale trials that indicate a greater harm than benefit for initiating aspirin treatment in older adults for primary prevention. Session objectives include:
- To interpret the latest trial data on the use of aspirin for primary cardioprevention
- To identify patients who are likely to benefit from aspirin therapy to reduce their risk of cardiovascular events
Announcements and Welcome to Day Two of Conference
Risk Management – How to Find Credible Information
This opening session provides essential tips on how to find and utilise the most up-to-date and credible information on medicines to ensure you are making informed therapeutic decisions. It includes:
- Why is teamwork the basis for the Quality Use of Medicines (QUM) framework?
- Where can we find sources of correct medicines information quickly?
- What are the major changes to the scheduling of medicines and associated MBS implications?
- Have there been any recent alerts issued by the TGA?
Potentially Inappropriate Medicines and Older Adults
The prescribing of potentially inappropriate medicines (PIMs) to older people is a serious concern. Continuing to use medicines when there is poor evidence of a benefit, places older people and the prescriber at great risk. This session is based on a case presentation and will address:
- How pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics alter as people age and what this means for the prescriber
- Titrating medicines as a person ages
- Deprescribing long-term medicines
- Proton pump inhibitors
- Antipsychotics
BREAKOUT ROOMS: Select One
Breakout Room One - Paediatrics
Paediatric Prescribing – Contemporary Challenges
Prescribing medicines for children takes into account many factors. This session will review paediatric prescribing decision-making and focus on:
- The impact of pharmacokinetics and dynamics on dosing – transitioning from neonate to adolescent
- Dosing and dose forms in underweight and overweight children
- Children as therapeutic orphans and implications for prescribing
- Review of the core principles of safe prescribing in children
Breakout Room Two – Diabetes
Diabetes Medicines – 2020 Update
While some of the management of diabetes may be initially possible through changes to lifestyle, treatment with medication is usually required. This session reviews the new types of glucose-lowering medicines that are currently used to diabetes mellitus and includes:
- What new medicines are available for type 2 diabetes?
- How do we now prescribe medicines for type 2 diabetes?
- What new insulins are available?
- Are new medicines on the horizon?
Breakout Room Three – Liver Disease
Safe Prescribing in Chronic Liver Disease – Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacodynamic Considerations
A significant number of Australians are living with chronic liver disease and may experience variable changes in drug metabolism and elimination. Understanding the implications is essential for prescribers to ensure medication safety. This session discusses:
- Liver function tests and when to trust them
- The spectrum of chronic liver disease and hepatic impairment
- Practical considerations for nurse prescribers in the real world
BREAKOUT ROOMS: Select One
Breakout Room One – COPD
COPD Inhalers – Avoiding “Lucky Dip”
Inhaled therapy forms the cornerstone of maintenance pharmacotherapy for COPD. Inhaler options have expanded rapidly with new medicines, generics of old drugs, new devices and combinations with two and three drug classes. Greater choice is welcomed but when prescribed without a coherent framework for selection, the complexity can lead to confusion for clinicians and patients and worse outcomes. This session will:
- Outline a prescribing framework
- Address the associated issues of inhaled therapy in COPD
Breakout Room Two – Pregnancy
Prescribing for Women – Transition from Pregnancy to Lactation – 2020 Update
This session looks at the key concepts and challenges for safe prescribing during pregnancy and lactation. It includes:
- A review of the key pharmacological concepts required for evidenced-approaches to prescribing during pregnancy and breastfeeding
- How to navigate off-label and unlicensed medicines
- Case studies to link theory to your practice
Breakout Room Three – Diabetes
Insulin Workshop
This practical workshop will review three complex case studies. Collaboratively, you will work through situations that require key pharmacology and prescribing considerations. It includes the following scenarios:
- A person with type 2 diabetes mellitus who needs to commence insulin
- A person with type 2 diabetes mellitus who requires an intensification of their current treatment regime
- A person with newly diagnosed steroid-induced diabetes mellitus
Toxicology and Tattoos
Most tattoo-related health and safety guidance centres on hygiene and the prevention of infections. Despite the increase in popularity, little consideration is given to the toxicological risks of ingredients used in tattoos. This final session reveals:
- What ingredients are used in tattoo ink?
- Are they safe?
- Can medicines cause tattooing?
- What are the acute and chronic health risks of tattoos?
Presenters
Debbie Rigby
Debbie Rigby is a consultant clinical pharmacist from Brisbane. Since graduation with a Bachelor of Pharmacy from the University of Queensland, she has since obtained a graduate diploma in clinical pharmacy, certification in geriatric pharmacy, an advanced diploma in nutritional pharmacy, certification as an asthma educator, and she has become credentialed as an advanced practice pharmacist. Debbie is a director on the NPS MedicineWise Board; clinical reference lead to Australian Digital Health Agency; a member of the Veterans’ MATES Practitioner Reference Group, Australian Deprescribing Network; visiting fellow at QUT; and an adjunct senior lecturer at the University of Queensland. Debbie conducts home medicine reviews in collaboration with GPs in a medical centre and provides education to pharmacists, GPs, nurses, Nurse Practitioners and consumers. Debbie was the inaugural recipient of the AACP Consultant Pharmacist Award in 2008 and was awarded the 2001 PSA Australian Pharmacist of the Year, the PSA Qld Bowl of Hygeia in 2002 and the SHPA 2016 Australian Clinical Pharmacy Award. Last year, Debbie was voted the most influential woman in pharmacy.
John Serginson
John Serginson has been a nurse practitioner: respiratory care at the Caboolture Hospital since 2010. He completed his nurse practitioner master's degree at the University of Queensland (UQ) with clinical training at The Prince Charles Hospital. He is an adjunct lecturer in the UQ School of Nursing and Midwifery. With 29 years’ experience as a nurse (16 in respiratory care), his research interests include domiciliary oxygen, inhaled therapy and COPD models of care.
Geraldine Moses
Dr Geraldine Moses is a doctor of clinical pharmacy, specialising in drug information. She is currently based part-time at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane where she works in the Academic Practice Unit and in aged care. She is a guest lecturer at the University of Queensland and Queensland University of Technology, contributing to training in schools of pharmacy, medicine, dentistry, nursing and optometry. She consults for organisations, such as the Australian Dental Association (Qld branch), the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Optometrists Association and the Rural Health Education Foundation.
Treasure McGuire
Dr Treasure McGuire is a medicines information pharmacist, pharmacologist, educator and researcher. As assistant director of pharmacy, Mater Health Services, she manages their academic practice unit. She is also a senior conjoint lecturer in the School of Pharmacy, University of Queensland and associate professor of pharmacology, Faculty of Health Sciences & Medicine, Bond University, where she lectures on complementary medicines, reproductive health, medication safety and communicable diseases. In recognition of her services to medicines information, she received the Lilly International Fellowship in Hospital Pharmacy and the Bowl of Hygeia of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia.
Joyce McSwann
Joyce McSwann is a multi-award winning clinical pharmacist with a special interest in treating persistent pain. Currently, she is the clinical program director of the Gold Coast Primary Health Network, Persistent Pain Program, Australia’s first federally funded primary health multidisciplinary pain program, which she founded in 2013. She was recently named Australian’s No 1 Agenda Setter by the readership of the Australian Journey Pharmacy and is the current QLD Board director of the Australian Pain Society. Some of her more recent appointments include being an expert panel member of the Chronic Pain Medscheck Trial Program and chair of the Pharmacology Program in the 2019 Australian Pain Society’s Scientific Conference. Joyce is a member of the International Association of the Study of Pain, and her expertise lies in innovating clinical pathways within the public and private primary health sectors. She is also the founder and managing director of the PainWISE Pharmacy Professional Services program, Australia’s first multidisciplinary clinical pain program for the pharmacy industry. Her work focuses on translating clinical evidence to everyday practice and optimise care for those living with noncommunicable diseases.
Kelly Hayward
Kelly Hayward is a clinical pharmacist and clinician researcher at the Princess Alexandra Hospital. She was awarded her PhD in 2019 for her work in hepatology ambulatory care to reduce preventable harm due to medication-related problems in people with decompensated cirrhosis. She is a passionate advocate for collaborative interdisciplinary care to improve medication safety and health outcomes for people with chronic liver disease.
Need for Program
Nurse Practitioners are authorised to prescribe a wide range of medicines. This demands a high-level of knowledge and skills relating to pharmacotherapeutic action, including potential adverse and other side effects, drug interactions, compliance and evaluation. Therapeutic decisions must be based on evidenced knowledge about medical conditions. Nurse Practitioners are required to access 30 hours of education per year, including 10 hours relating to their advanced practice and prescribing. The sheer amount of new evidence about medicines today makes it essential for prescribers to stay adequately informed.
Purpose of Program
The purpose of this program is for Nurse Practitioners or advanced practice nurses to increase knowledge and keep up-to-date about prescribing, the administration of medicines and professional practice.
Your learning outcomes
- Reflect upon interprofessional relationships, practices and experiences to provide the best holistic care to people
- Reflect the latest evidence in your clinical decision-making relating to prescribing medicines
- Prescribe medicines within the Australian legal framework to prevent adverse effects and unwanted side effects
- Evaluate possible changes to your current prescribing practice and understand how to overcome the barriers to achieving necessary changes
Nurse Practitioners: Pharmacology and Prescribing Conference - Brisbane 2021
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