Hospital Nuclear Pharmacy—A Comparison of Physician and Pharmacist Practice

OBJECTIVE: Nuclear pharmacy is practiced in every hospital with a nuclear medicine clinic. Pharmacists control this practice in fewer than four percent of these institutions. The authors wish to bring to the attention of hospital pharmacists an area of practice in which they can make a significant contribution to the state of pharmacy practice. METHOD: The current state of the physician practice of nuclear pharmacy is described and compared with the accepted standards of pharmacy practice. CONCLUSIONS: Hospital pharmacists can improve pharmaceutical care administered in nuclear medicine by their participation in nuclear pharmacy practice and by the application of hospital pharmacy practice standards. It is also suggested that nuclear pharmacy should be integrated into the pharmacy curriculum at schools of pharmacy.