Shots, Shots, Shots!

One of the new and cool skills pharmacist can perform now is immunizations. Every state except one allows in some form for pharmacists to immunize their community. Michigan allows trained and certified pharmacists to give vaccine shots just like physicians and nurses. I trained this week to be certified to give immunizations. It is not required for pharmacists to be certified immunizers, but it is extra skill I have wherever I end up in the medical field. I had a week to read 100 pages packed with information on vaccines and the basics for immunization, take a pre-test, attend a hour long conference call, and six hours of classroom training. Add in work and chores around the house, I kept pretty busy.

Bright and early on a Saturday morning I had to travel to Bloomfield Township for my immunization class. I wasn’t sure exactly where I was going and ended up a couple minutes late because Bloomfield Township doesn’t know how to logically order street address but that it is another story. It didn’t really matter because the teacher was still trying to figure out how to connect his computer to the overhead screen. Once he got it to work, we spent the next five and a half hours on the different immunizations we could perform. It is not just the influenza shot. He taught us about pneumococcal, hepatitis A and B, measles, mumps, and rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, meningococcal, polio, and the human papilloma virus.

There is a lot of information to keep track of in terms of ages, contradictions, and how to administer the shot. It wasn’t until the last half an hour that we had to poke our classmates with two intramuscular (I.M.) and one subcutaneous (S.Q.) shot filled with saline solution. There were several pharmacists in my class learning to be immunizers for the first time too. One lady was so nervous giving her first shot that her hand was shaking though she was perfectly fine after doing the first one. I was a little nervous myself but performed well when it was my turn. I enjoy doing intramuscular shots more than subcutaneous because I.M. shots are at ninety degree angles while S.Q. shots are angled at forty-five degrees.

The biggest concern about giving shots is not how to poke the person or drawing up the solution but getting a needle stick once one removes the syringe from the skin. Many syringes today have safety devices where the needle retracts once the shot is given. Now these devices only work 50% of the times meaning technique and positioning of the immunizer needs to be appropriate. One’s legs needs to be on the opposite side of the body from the hand that has the syringe, and the sharps container needs to be next to the immunizer. If done correctly, it will be one fluid motion of poking the skin, injecting the vaccine, activating the safety device, removing the syringe, and placing the syringe into the sharps container. It can be all done in five seconds. At the moment, I am not giving out shots at my pharmacy, but I will have the skill if called upon in the future.