The week before last, I had the honor and privilege of speaking at an all-employee meeting at Germfree in Ormond Beach, Florida. It was a wonderful experience to have the opportunity to collaborate with this remarkable organization and their outstanding team, who have developed a cutting-edge technology solution for the complex sterile IV compounding process—one that truly promises to significantly improve medication safety overall. Companies like Germfree, offer the exact “technology tools” and systems I have long advocated for—tools that are proven to save countless lives by preventing the kinds of medication errors that tragically claimed my daughter Emily’s life in 2006.
Germfree‘s new Smarthood system is a highly innovative solution that integrates the horizontal laminar flow unit with a variety of seamlessly integrated peripheral devices used in conventional IV workflow systems. Their new design is completely software agnostic, which enables facilities to utilize their existing IV workflow software, while maintaining a clean & sterile workspace and consistent airflow.
Ever since establishing the Emily Jerry Foundation over 15 years ago, the primary mission has always been focused on preventing medication errors before they occur. This is why I have been such a vocal advocate for the smart adoption and implementation of technology like this in healthcare, as the essential tools to help eradicate the risk of “human error” in pharmacy workflows. This is precisely why I am so thrilled to align with the incredible team at Germfree, who share these same core values. EJF and Germfree are perfectly aligned, both organizations are extremely passionate about doing everything we possibly can to ultimately save lives!!
I’m so grateful for having had the great privilege and honor of delivering the keynote address at the Compounding Expert Committee (CEC) Summit hosted by BD at the end of April. The strong partnership that’s been established between the Emily Jerry Foundation and Becton Dickinson has been invaluable. Over the years, I have really appreciated their team’s support which has always been in complete alignment with EJF’s core mission of preventing tragedies before they occur, ultimately saving countless lives from medication errors.
During my time in San Diego, I participated in various meetings and activities
post-keynote. Engaging with the ten leading compounding experts provided yet another unique learning opportunity. The productive collaboration witnessed throughout the day, focused on advancing medication safety in the complex IV compounding process.
The entire meeting emphasized the vital importance of improving medication safety overall, which is why I’m absolutely thrilled to have been given the opportunity to contribute to this well-organized and successful event! My friend, Craig Greszler, is the Senior Manager of Medical Affairs at BD. For more insights into this past Summit, you can check out his recent blog post on their website by clicking on the following link:
I was thrilled and deeply honored to have the privilege of speaking on behalf of the Emily Jerry Foundation at Temple University’s School of Pharmacy in Philadelphia, on Monday of last week. I’m so grateful for having had this opportunity which was provided by my good friend Dr. Lawrence Carey, PharmD, who is an Assistant Dean and Professor at Temple. I spoke to four separate classes that day, comprised of students at different stages of pursuing their doctorates in pharmacy (P1, P2, P3, & P4). The lectures were an hour each in duration, back-to-back.
Shortly afterwards, all four classes were then invited to attend a 45 minute follow up Q&A session in a much larger room that could accommodate everyone. I immediately let those in attendance know that no questions were off limits or too personal, which always seems to open the initial dialogue well. Over the years, by simply being open and transparent about literally every aspect of my journey, I’ve learned it inevitably leads to some great conversations, as I’m pleased to say it did with all these students. This made for a very long day, but it also made the day very fulfilling for me personally, pushing EJF’s core mission forward by having the ability to reach so many students. The reason I find days like these so gratifying is because I not only believe that these PharmD student’s strong and effective leadership exhibited throughout their careers will help lead the charge to help save countless lives from preventable medication errors…I also believe they are our future leaders in healthcare!
An extremely productive day, culminating in a wonderful dinner with Dr. S. Suresh Madhavan, the new Dean for Temple University’s School of Pharmacy, Dr. Lawrence Carey, and other esteemed faculty at Ralph’s in South Philly, which is recognized as being the oldest Italian restaurant in the United States!
Last week, it was such a privilege to have the opportunity to present before two convocations, consisting primarily of pharmacy technician students, at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis for their Area 31 Career Center. It’s one of the largest high schools in Indiana, with 3,270 students. Knowing what their enrollment was prior to my visit, I expected the school itself would be big. What I really didn’t realize though, was just how massive the main building for the school would be…it’s over a million square feet!
Equally impressive, to the “top notch” learning environment that’s been very firmly established for the students at Area 31, is their overall pharmacy technician career program that has been built on a very comprehensive underlying curriculum. Along those lines, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that they are the only ASHP accredited high school program in the nation that offers an associate degree through their ongoing partnership with Vincennes University, also located in Indianapolis. When I first heard about this during my visit, it really struck me, when I pondered the notion that students in the Area 31 school district, could graduate with an associate degree, become state licensed technicians, sit for the PTCB National Certification Exam, all at the same time they are completing their High School Diploma!
Area 31, along with their dedicated faculty, truly exemplify everything I’ve been advocating so passionately for over the years, relating to pharmacy technicians and the vital role they all play in medication safety. This is why I’m truly grateful for having had this opportunity to speak to these students!
I’m pleased to say that I have been invited on April 4th to present before two convocations, consisting primarily of pharmacy technician students at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis for their Area 31 Career Center. Recently I learned that Ben Davis not only has one of the largest enrollments in Indiana, it also has the prestigious honor of receiving the National Award for Excellence in Education from the U.S. Dept. of Education.
When I first established the Emily Jerry Foundation 15 years ago, a pharmacist friend/mentor of mine, explained the vital role that pharmacy technicians play with respect to overall medication safety, and also how important their scope of practice truly is…that it’s certainly NOT just another job! He told me to think of the pharmacy technicians as being members of a professional sports team and to think of the supervising pharmacists as being their head coaches. This simple analogy has stuck with me to this day, and it’s precisely why I continue to advocate so strongly for having well educated, career oriented pharmacy technicians on ALL pharmacy teams. Bottom line, they are proven to significantly reduce the number of medication errors and prevent tragedies BEFORE they happen! This is also why I feel so privileged and honored to have this wonderful opportunity to speak to these students… really looking forward to this event!
Really excited to share the news that we will be beginning the second academic year for the Emily Jerry Foundation‘s Medication Safety Scholars Program! This comprehensive distance education and virtual engagement program was developed and successfully implemented over the past five years, through a close partnership and collaboration between EJF, the ASHP Foundation, and the ASHP Student Forum.
We are now accepting applications for our next student cohort, so If you’re a P2 or P3 Doctor of Pharmacy student, who wants to become a true medication safety leader in your healthcare organization, I encourage you to consider applying today!
Isn’t one tragic PREVENTABLE medication error too many?
Program Overview & Other Related Links:
https://lnkd.in/eN6A-2Q
Learn More About our First Inaugural Year for Medication Safety Scholars:
https://lnkd.in/e4gKiUns
How-to-Apply Webinar Registration -Tomorrow, March 19th, at 4:00pm ET:
https://lnkd.in/eucm3KCM
Apply Today:
https://lnkd.in/e-wiXZ3f
Last week, I was very encouraged but humbled, to receive the following email from my friend, Dr. Dan Degnan and his colleague Dr. Ephrem Abebe at Purdue University College of Pharmacy. They had invited me to speak last October to the students in their PHRM 868 – Patient Safety and Informatics class, all of whom are pursuing their doctorates in Pharmacy…our future leaders in healthcare.
“I wanted to drop you a quick note on behalf of Ephrem and myself to say thank you for coming to share your story, your knowledge and your expertise about Patient Safety and Informatics with our 3rd year pharmacy students last semester. Although some time has passed, we have started to debrief about potential improvements to class and to celebrate all the positives that came from the class.
As part of that process, we evaluate reflections written by all 150 students in class. One of the prompts for this assignment asks students to reflect on what lecture topic was most interesting to them and why? We took comments related to the lecture you provided and attached them.
Working in academia, I think it can be easy to forget the profound effect you can have on others. I wanted to share some of the impact you had on our students last semester.”
The following are only a few of those very kind student reflections, regarding my lecture:
“Mr. Jerry’s narrative was not just about personal tragedy; it was proof of his resilience and determination to transform that tragedy into a catalyst for change. What made this lecture truly memorable was Mr. Jerry’s decision to pursue a career in pharmacy following a devastating loss, driven by a commitment to increase awareness about patient safety and prevent medical errors.”
“Chris’s story didn’t invoke fear, but responsibility. It pushed me to delve deeper into patient safety, medications, and preventing their misuse, in anticipating potential pitfalls before they arise. His message resonated because it didn’t excuse others, it didn’t point fingers. Instead, it placed the responsibility squarely on our shoulders, the ones directly trusted with the final step in the medication chain.”
“Having a loved one pass away due to a mistake and being able to put your energy to preventing those same mistakes from impacting someone else is extremely noble, and what Mr. Jerry does to help educate us as students and future professionals is very admirable.”
“While it is extremely unfortunate Mr. Jerry had this tragedy in his life, through his words, passion and hope I felt changed and motivated as a healthcare professional to honor Emily. That it is my duty and obligation to change the system and spread awareness to prevent another occurrence like hers from happening again.”
Last week I had another speaking engagement at the Annual ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting in Anaheim California. This has always been one of my favorite meetings because it’s the largest gathering of clinical pharmacists from around the globe, with around 25,000 pharmacy professionals in attendance each year.
When I first started doing this work many years ago, it was the modality of pharmacy, that immediately welcomed me into their fold. I always felt like they understood what I was trying to accomplish with Emily Jerry Foundation and my advocacy efforts. Right away, I discovered that these amazing clinician caregivers shared my same exact passion for improving medication safety and saving lives from preventable medication errors. So inevitably, I always end up running into quite a few people I’ve had the privilege of working with over the years, many who have become dear friends that I haven’t seen in a while, and we all get a chance to catch up with one another. More importantly though, these are the true experts from the modality of pharmacy who are all just as passionate about medication safety as I am, and we’re all blessed to be assembled in one place every year!
This is also why I’m grateful for having had the opportunity to give a keynote and present with Eric Cropp, PharmD, and Michael Cohen, from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP)) at the meeting this year. The event was sponsored & hosted by a new Emily Jerry Foundation partner, EQUASHIELD®. I’m glad to align with their organization and the wonderful team they’ve assembled, to develop and implement their innovative technology solutions for pharmacy compounding. Companies like theirs provide the exact “technology tools” and systems that I have often referred to over the years that are proven to save countless lives from preventable medication errors like the one that tragically claimed my daughter Emily’s life in 2006.
I’m thrilled to invite you to my upcoming keynote presentation at the ASHP Midyear Conference in Anaheim, CA, on December 4th, 2023. As the President and CEO of The Emily Jerry Foundation, I am proud to align with EQUASHIELD®, a brand that stands for safety, quality, and efficiency with its main focus on minimizing tragic medication errors and, in turn, saving countless lives.
Visit me at Equashield’s Booth 947, where they will be launching their latest product, designed to revolutionize the landscape of pharmacy compounding.
This event is an opportunity for us to learn, grow, and take a step into the future of hazardous drug compounding. Let’s shape the future of pharmacy together – click the link to sign up!
Together, we can truly make a difference. I really hope to see you there!
Learn more at: https://www.equashield.com/ashp-product-launch/
The Emily Jerry Foundation is determined to help make our nation’s, world renowned, medical facilities safer for everyone, beginning with our babies and children. We are accomplishing this very important objective by focusing on increasing public awareness of key patient safety related issues and identifying technology and best practices that are proven to minimize the “human error” component of medicine. Through our ongoing efforts The Emily Jerry Foundation is working hard to save lives every day.
Posted: August 27, 2024 by Nick Pietravoia
EJF Video Interview During GermFree Visit
During my visit to Germfree in Ormond Beach Florida, a few weeks ago, where I was invited to speak at their all-employee meeting, I also had the chance to do an interview. In it, I shared the heartfelt reasons behind my deep commitment to the work I’ve pursued so diligently over the years.
It’s hard to believe how much time has passed since I first began this incredible journey, following the path I truly felt called to take. This month marks 15 years since I founded the Emily Jerry Foundation, with the core mission of improving medication safety and preventing errors like the one that tragically took my beautiful daughter Emily from happening to others—actively working to be part of the solution to preventable medical errors and ultimately saving countless lives.
After having had the opportunity to witness firsthand, the profound dedication and vision of the entire Germfree team in developing their new Smarthood system, I’m more confident than ever that we can continue to come together to improve medication safety in IV compounding for all patients. This is why I’m so excited about the future of the new partnership between Germfree and the Emily Jerry Foundation. Our organizations are perfectly aligned with our core missions as we carry forward our shared passion for saving lives—a passion that clearly drives us all!
Watch the video on youtube at the following link (https://youtu.be/zlc-gttJ-BQ?si=y87slQ-wMcFKswuv) or in the embedded player below: