Shelby Shemanski, PharmD, BCCCP, is a pharmacist at Saint Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. She became a member of the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) in 2016. Her clinical interests include gastrointestinal nutrition, sepsis, and trauma. Her hobbies include traveling and working out. Learn more about Dr. Shemanski and her love for critical care.
What do you love about SCCM membership?
SCCM provides opportunities to collaborate and learn with clinicians across multiple disciplines and specialties. I especially value the access to evidence-based education, networking, and shared innovation that directly impacts the care we provide at the bedside on a daily basis.
Why do you love being in critical care?
I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to make a meaningful impact during some of the most vulnerable moments in a patient's life. I value the face-paced environment, complexity of care, and teamwork that comes with working in the ICU.
What are the top advances in critical care since you started your career?
Most relevant to my area of practice, the advances we have made in the management of mechanical ventilation and sedation have been most significant. We have used the evidence for the ventilator rounding tool (VRT) and implemented it at our institution, including a nursing driven sedation algorithm. We have done our own internal research on this to show implementation of the VRT decreased time on continuous sedation and reduced ICU length of stay.
What industry trends excite you about the future?
Advances in technology, particularly optimizing the use of AI, can have positive implications for critical care (CC) practice. In a perfect world, we would build these models to help us identify clinical deterioration earlier, optimize therapies sooner, and improve patient outcomes in real time.
How did you get into critical care?
I started my pharmacy residency expecting to be a general clinician and found my passion for CC during my PGY1 residency. I became the first PGY2 CC resident at my institution and was fortunate to have strong CC mentors that have helped shape my career ever since.
What is your biggest professional achievement?
Given my interest in gastrointestinal nutrition, my colleague and I took on the task of improving pharmacist involvement with our institution's parenteral nutrition ordering and monitoring. As a result, we now have a collaborative drug therapy management agreement in place that empowers pharmacists to manage parenteral therapy while patients are hospitalized.
What advice do you have for those starting their critical care careers?
Bedside care is obviously important, but there is also work that is needed behind the scenes to make patient care efficient and safe. Never underestimate the value of teamwork. The multidisciplinary team can work together to create order sets, policies, and procedures that support evidence-based medicine and help improve patient outcomes.
What do you see as the most challenging issue facing critical care?
Working at an academic medical center, I am spoiled by the access to resources and experience of tenured intensivists. A major challenge in other areas of the world is limited access to resources that are necessary for lifesaving care. Increased training of specialized critical care clinicians will help broaden the net of access to specialists who can help bridge this gap.
What do you believe to be the top benefit of SCCM membership?
Free abstract submission to Critical Care Congress
Connect with @Shelby Shemanski on SCCM Connect!