Kristen Hughes

Her Story

Kristen Hughes, Pharm.D., BCPS, began her pharmacy career in 2008, working as a pharmacy technician at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. She worked in this role as she completed her undergraduate pre-pharmacy coursework at the University of Memphis. After five years of working in this capacity, she began pharmacy school at the University of Tennesee College of Pharmacy and transitioned into the role of an intern pharmacist at St. Jude. During her third year of pharmacy school, she took on a different role as a medication use policy intern where she was introduced to drug use policy and medication safety. She graduated from pharmacy school in 2017 and went on to complete a PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency at Regional One Health in Memphis, Tennessee. She then returned to St. Jude to complete her PGY2 Medication Use Safety Pharmacy Residency. Upon completion of residency, Dr. Hughes stayed with St. Jude as Clinical Staff Pharmacist, learning the operational aspects of the inpatient and outpatient pharmacies. In May of 2021, she took on the role of Clinical Pharmacist in Medication Safety and Informatics. Dr. Hughes is board certified in pharmacotherapy and holds ASHP Certificates in medication safety and pharmacy informatics.

Facility

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is a specialty children's hospital, treating patients with pediatric cancer and other catastrophic diseases. St. Jude treats about 8,600 patients each year with 73 inpatient beds and 12 on-site ambulatory clinics, and is also expanding its outreach to help save more children globally. Most patients are treated as outpatients and stay in one of four housing facilities near the campus. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for their treatment, travel, housing, or food. This is made possible through the generosity of donors all over the world. 

Recent Significant Projects

Dr. Hughes began her current position in May of 2021. Prior to this, as Clinical Staff Pharmacist, she initiated a weekly pharmacy communication to educate pharmacy staff on medication events, their investigations, and resolutions. This also served as an opportunity for education of how medication event reports are used to create a safer medication use system for patients at St. Jude. She surveyed staff to determine how they would like these events communicated and to receive feedback on how to involve staff in the education and resolution process. Since beginning her new role, she has taken on the task of reviewing and updating the current smart pump library and aligning this process to reflect best practice recommendations. In addition to this, she has started reviewing smart pump data to identify areas for improvement to the medication use system, including taking over a project to increase compliance with dose errors reduction software for the smart pumps. 

Initial Involvement in ASHP

I have been a member of ASHP since I was in pharmacy school, but have recently begun seeking opportunities for more engagement. In the past year I have contributed to a couple of projects within the New Practitioners Forum such as reviewing resource content updates and field testing the updated ASHP Clinical Skills Certificate for International Pharmacy. I was also recently appointed to the Section of Inpatient Care Practitioners Section Advisory Group (SAG) on Pharmacy Practice Experiences Precepting for the 2021-2022 term. 

Why did you become involved in ASHP? 

As a student, resident, and now as a new practitioner, ASHP has facilitated my education and provided guidance for my professional development and involvement. I chose to complement my training following residency by completing ASHP Certificates in medication safety and pharmacy informatics. I also used ASHP’s Review and Recertification Reward Program to help me prepare for the Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) exam in pharmacotherapy. This was an invaluable resource for me. In addition, I have used many of the guidelines and position statements by ASHP in my practice and I hope to be able to contribute to some of these great resources to further others’ knowledge as I become more involved with ASHP. 

What kind of advice would you provide for someone new to your specialty area? 

Although I am relatively new to my specialty area, I have a few lessons learned to share with others. I think it is important to find a way to prioritize your work in a way that will allow you to not only complete retrospective tasks (e.g., review event reports, trigger tools, etc.), but to also dedicate time to the prospective tasks that will minimize future risks to patients. I am still in the process of identifying the best way to prioritize longer-term projects into my day to day activities but I think this growth should be a priority for anyone going into medication safety.

How would you explain the value of ASHP to a friend or colleague?

ASHP has given me a lot in regard to education and support in my career thus far. If you are looking for educational resources or guidance in your area of practice, ASHP is a great resource for pharmacists. ASHP is also a great way to network with people outside of your own organization with similar interests and develop new relationships. 

What is the value of ASHP for the profession? 

I think that ASHP continuously helps to drive and promote the pharmacy profession in new and exciting areas.