A team approach to patient care in the medical intensive care units at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.

The MICU offers the pharmacist and the pharmacy technician an exciting opportunity to participate meaningfully in direct patient care. Cost containment will continue to be an important issue in the 1990s. The pharmacist must promote optimal therapeutic decision making and decrease the incidence of adverse drug reactions to get the patient better and out of the unit as quickly as possible. The pharmacist will ensure that patients receive the safest, most cost-effective therapy without compromising the quality of care. The pharmacist and pharmacy technician can collaborate with MICU nurses to create a safe and efficient flow of medications. Time management by nurses becomes much more efficient when they are able to benefit from the interactions of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians as described in this article.