(1) A pharmacy technician shall only perform tasks which do not require the professional judgment of a pharmacist and which are subject to verification to assist a pharmacist in the practice of pharmacy.

Terms Used In Nebraska Statutes 38-2891

  • Administer: means to directly apply a drug or device by injection, inhalation, ingestion, or other means to the body of a patient or research subject. See Nebraska Statutes 38-2806
  • Administration: means the act of (1) administering, (2) keeping a record of such activity, and (3) observing, monitoring, reporting, and otherwise taking appropriate action regarding desired effect, side effect, interaction, and contraindication associated with administering the drug or device. See Nebraska Statutes 38-2807
  • Board: means the Board of Pharmacy. See Nebraska Statutes 38-2808
  • Drug product: means any drug or device as defined in section 38-2841. See Nebraska Statutes 38-2818.02
  • Medical order: means a prescription, a chart order, or an order for pharmaceutical care issued by a practitioner. See Nebraska Statutes 38-2828
  • Patient counseling: means the verbal communication by a pharmacist, pharmacist intern, or practitioner, in a manner reflecting dignity and the right of the patient to a reasonable degree of privacy, of information to the patient or caregiver in order to improve therapeutic outcomes by maximizing proper use of prescription drugs and devices and also includes the duties set out in section 38-2869. See Nebraska Statutes 38-2830
  • Person: shall include bodies politic and corporate, societies, communities, the public generally, individuals, partnerships, limited liability companies, joint-stock companies, and associations. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
  • Pharmaceutical care: includes the process through which the pharmacist works in concert with the patient and his or her caregiver, physician, or other professionals in designing, implementing, and monitoring a therapeutic plan that will produce specific therapeutic outcomes for the patient. See Nebraska Statutes 38-2831
  • Pharmacist: means any person who is licensed by the State of Nebraska to practice pharmacy. See Nebraska Statutes 38-2832
  • Pharmacy technician: means an individual registered under sections 38-2890 to 38-2897. See Nebraska Statutes 38-2836
  • Practice of pharmacy: means (a) the interpretation, evaluation, and implementation of a medical order, (b) the dispensing of drugs and devices, (c) drug product selection, (d) the administration of drugs or devices, (e) drug utilization review, (f) patient counseling, (g) the provision of pharmaceutical care, (h) medication therapy management, and (i) the responsibility for compounding and labeling of dispensed or repackaged drugs and devices, proper and safe storage of drugs and devices, and maintenance of proper records. See Nebraska Statutes 38-2837
  • Practitioner: means a certified registered nurse anesthetist, a certified nurse midwife, a dentist, an optometrist, a nurse practitioner, a physician assistant, a physician, a podiatrist, or a veterinarian. See Nebraska Statutes 38-2838
  • State: when applied to different states of the United States shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories organized by Congress. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
  • Supervision: means the personal guidance and direction by a pharmacist of the performance by a pharmacy technician of authorized activities or functions subject to (1) verification by such pharmacist or (2) validation by a certified pharmacy technician subject to section 38-2891. See Nebraska Statutes 38-2845
  • Verification: means the confirmation by a supervising pharmacist of the accuracy and completeness of the acts, tasks, or functions undertaken by a pharmacy technician to assist the pharmacist in the practice of pharmacy. See Nebraska Statutes 38-2847

(2) A pharmacy technician may administer vaccines, and such administration shall not be considered to be performing a task requiring the professional judgment of a pharmacist, when:

(a) The vaccines are verified by the pharmacist responsible for the supervision and verification of the activities of the pharmacy technician prior to administration;

(b) Administration is limited to intra-muscular in the deltoid muscle or subcutaneous on the arm to a person three years of age or older;

(c) The pharmacy technician is certified as required by section 38-2890 ;

(d) The pharmacy technician has completed certificate training in vaccine administration that includes, at a minimum, vaccine administration, blood-borne pathogen exposure, safety measures during administration, and biohazard handling;

(e) The pharmacy technician is currently certified in basic life-support skills for health care providers as determined by the board; and

(f) The pharmacist responsible for the supervision and verification of the activities of the pharmacy technician is on site.

(3) The functions and tasks which shall not be performed by pharmacy technicians include, but are not limited to:

(a) Receiving oral medical orders from a practitioner or his or her agent except as otherwise provided in subsection (4) of section 38-2870 ;

(b) Providing patient counseling;

(c) Performing any evaluation or necessary clarification of a medical order or performing any functions other than strictly clerical functions involving a medical order;

(d) Supervising or verifying the tasks and functions of pharmacy technicians;

(e) Interpreting or evaluating the data contained in a patient’s record maintained pursuant to section 38-2869 ;

(f) Releasing any confidential information maintained by the pharmacy;

(g) Performing any professional consultations; and

(h) Drug product selection, with regard to an individual medical order, in accordance with the Nebraska Drug Product Selection Act.

(4) The director shall, with the recommendation of the board, waive any of the limitations in subsection (2) of this section for purposes of a scientific study of the role of pharmacy technicians approved by the board. Such study shall be based upon providing improved patient care or enhanced pharmaceutical care. Any such waiver shall state the length of the study and shall require that all study data and results be made available to the board upon the completion of the study. Nothing in this subsection requires the board to approve any study proposed under this subsection.

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