The Clinical Pharmacist’s Role in Symptom Assessments

Healthcare professionals involved in direct patient care, such as nurses, pharmacists, advanced practice providers, and physicians, learn methods of symptom assessment during education and training, but each profession uses a slightly different lens. The ability to consider polypharmacy and drug-drug interactions in patient assessment is one of the most important skills a clinical pharmacist uses in daily practice. Clinical pharmacists caring for patients with cancer must identify drug-related side effects, monitor and manage patients during chronic drug therapy, and educate patients and members of the interprofessional team, all in the context of the intricacies of antineoplastic therapy and adherence assessment.