Amid the hustle and bustle of the emergency department you can find one person you might not expect – a pharmacist.
Maggie Godsey, class of 2021, recently joined the college for a Career Seminar Series presentation to share her experience as an emergency medicine pharmacist with WSU pharmacy students. For Godsey, each day brings a new adventure with ever-changing patients and circumstances coming through the Emergency Department where she works at Evergreen Health in Kirkland, Washington.
“I’m right in the thick of everything—code, sedations, traumas, stroke alerts, sepsis alerts—everything that you could possibly think of, I’m right there,” she said.
Godsey explained that for that to work, building trusting relationships with medical providers and nurses was paramount so they knew she was there for support when those emergent situations came up.
“We work as a team down in the emergency department and we collaborate as a team to be able to provide that best patient outcome.”
But it took time for Godsey to get to that point. When she first started in her role, there wasn’t much understanding around what an emergency medicine pharmacist can do. Godsey acts as the medication expert on the emergency team. She is there to answer questions about medications, their side effects, and administration; offer expert recommendations; verify all medication requests; and, as needed, educate everyone from the patient to the providers about medications being prescribed, often using resources to help her along the way.
“WSU faculty encouraged me to get involved in student organizations and those experiences really helped develop the skills I use every day as an emergency medicine pharmacist, educating others and basically knowing your patient population and what you need to be able to provide for them,” said Godsey.
Another big part of her role is monitoring patients in critical condition during codes, to advise the physician and adjust medications as needed. For example, any patient that needs to be intubated (to assist with breathing in emergent situations) is sedated—that’s where Godsey comes in. “In those situations, I usually am the person that is choosing the appropriate medications based off of their lab values,” she explained.
When not assisting with emergent situations, Godsey spends much of her time doing antimicrobial stewardship to ensure patients receive the antibiotics most suited to whatever infection they may have. Every day she reviews charts, using diagnostic skills to determine recommendations based on lab cultures and the bacteria they show.
The Career Seminar Series is sponsored by STCU and Walgreens to allow current student pharmacists to hear insight from pharmacy alums across a variety of fields. To learn more about sponsorship opportunities at the college, please contact Director of Development and Alumni Relations Kelly Sylvester or explore other giving opportunities.