Nurse Practitioners: Pharmacology and Prescribing Conference - Brisbane 2021

11h

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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

8:30 Registration for Day One

9:00

John Serginson

Acknowledgment of Country, Welcome, and Introduction to Conference

9:05

Dr Geraldine Moses

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?

10:00

Dr Geraldine Moses

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?

11:00 Morning Tea

11:30

Joyce McSwann

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

12:30

Debbie Rigby

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?

1:30 Lunch and Networking

2:30

BREAKOUT ROOMS: Select One

2:30

Dr Geraldine Moses

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!

2:30

Joyce McSwann

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

2:30

Debbie Rigby

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

3:30 Afternoon Tea

3:45

Debbie Rigby

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

4:45 Close of Day One of Conference

9:00 Commencement of Day Two

9:00

John Serginson

Announcements and Welcome to Day Two of Conference

9:05

TBA

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?

10:00

Dr Treasure McGuire

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

11:00 Morning Tea

11:30

BREAKOUT ROOMS: Select One

11:30

Dr Treasure McGuire

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

11:30

Karl Winckel

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?

11:30

Kelly Hayward

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

12:30 Lunch and Networking

1:30

BREAKOUT ROOMS: Select One

1:30

John Serginson

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

1:30

Dr Treasure McGuire

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

1:30

Karl Winckel

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

2:30 Afternoon Tea

3:00

Dr Treasure McGuire

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?

4:00 Close of Conference and Evaluations

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.

To Be Determined

Karl Winckel

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

11h

Price: $759.00

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