Australian Pharmacists' understanding of their Continuing Professional Development Obligations

Interviews with Global Pharmacists and Healthcare Professionals in Great Britain to Establish Personal Experiences around Professional Development Activity

Professional development activity is needed to ensure practitioners are up to date and providing optimal patient care. This includes, but is not restricted to, mandatory continuing professional development (CPD) or continuing education (CE) requirements, which differ by professions globally and within countries. This study aimed to investigate perceptions, participation, and individual practice for healthcare professionals in Great Britain (GB) and pharmacists globally to identify similarities and differences after the introduction of revalidation for pharmacists in GB. Qualitative data was received through interviews, which was analysed using content analysis. In total, 24 interviews were completed with pharmacists registered globally, and healthcare professionals registered in GB. A culture of CPD was seen for healthcare professionals in GB and globally for pharmacists; there was no consistent model. Face-to-face activity was common, with an increase in online provision, especially where large geographies were seen. Most learning was completed in the professional’s own time. Multiple providers were seen, with the evaluation of events using questionnaires being commonplace. Different formats of learning were useful for different topics, with skills learning being better when face-to-face. Although varied requirements were in place, regulation should support patient-based practice outcomes. This study showed that commitment to learning was similar in different professions in GB and by pharmacists globally, with similar benefits and challenges.

CPD Aligned to Competency Standards to Support Quality Practice

As medication experts, pharmacists are key members of the patient’s healthcare team. Pharmacists must maintain their competence to practice to remain responsive to the increasingly complex healthcare sector. This paper seeks to determine how competence training for pharmacists may enhance quality in their professional development. Results of two separately administered surveys (2012 and 2013) were compared to examine the reported continued professional development (CPD) practices of Australian pharmacists. Examination of results from both studies enabled a focus on how the competency standards inform CPD practice. In the survey administered in 2012, 91% (n = 253/278) pharmacists reported that they knew their current registration requirements. However, in the survey administered in 2013, only 43% (n = 46/107) reported utilization of the National Competency Standards Framework for Pharmacists in Australia (NCS) to self-asses their practice as part of their annual re-registration requirements. Fewer, 23% (n = 25/107), used the NCS to plan their CPD. This may be symptomatic of poor familiarity with the NCS, uncertainty around undertaking self-directed learning as part of a structured learning plan and/or misunderstandings around what CPD should include. This is supported by thematic analysis of pharmacists’ social media comments. Initial and ongoing competence training to support meaningful CPD requires urgent attention in Australia. The competence (knowledge, skills and attributes) required to engage in meaningful CPD practice should be introduced and developed prior to entry into practice; other countries may find they are in a similar position.

Describing the role of Australian community pharmacists in oral healthcare

OBJECTIVES

To investigate community pharmacist's attitudes, beliefs and practices towards oral health in the Australian setting, describe the frequency and nature of consumer enquiries relating to oral health, and gain insight regarding smoking cessation support for people experiencing oral health problems.

METHODS

An online questionnaire was developed based on previous research, validated to ensure accuracy and reliability, and convenience sampling used to advertise across major pharmacy organisational websites and newsletters to maximise community pharmacist responses.

KEY FINDINGS

One hundred and forty-four valid community pharmacist responses were descriptively analysed. The majority of pharmacists (93%) believed it was their role to deliver oral health advice in the community and almost all (97%) pharmacists believed further education would benefit their practice. The top four consumer enquiries pharmacists reported confidence in handling related to analgesic medication to relieve oral-related pain (95.8%), mouth ulcers (95.1%), oral thrush (94.4%) and toothache (93.8%); and the most frequently reported consumer enquires were those where the majority of pharmacists reported high confidence in handling. A small proportion of pharmacists (8%) always enquired about patient smoking status, and nearly all pharmacists (97%) desired further education and training to benefit their practice in oral healthcare.

CONCLUSION

This study highlights that Australian pharmacists have an important role in oral health and there is opportunity to enhance this role, and address risk factors such as smoking with further training, support and education. The findings from this study can guide future research into the development of appropriate training programmes, standards, and best oral healthcare practices for Australian pharmacists.

Training on the use of a bespoke continuing professional development framework improves the quality of CPD records

BACKGROUND

Using continuing professional development (CPD) as part of the revalidation of pharmacy professionals has been proposed in the UK but not implemented. We developed a CPD outcomes framework ('the framework') for scoring CPD records, where the score range was -100 to +150 based on demonstrable relevance and impact of the CPD on practice.

OBJECTIVE

This exploratory study aimed to test the outcome of training people to use the framework, through distance-learning material (active intervention), by comparing CPD scores before and after training.

SETTING

Pharmacy professionals were recruited in the UK in Reading, Banbury, Southampton, Kingston-upon-Thames and Guildford in 2009.

METHOD

We conducted a randomised, double-blinded, parallel-group, before and after study. The control group simply received information on new CPD requirements through the post; the active intervention group also received the framework and associated training. Altogether 48 participants (25 control, 23 active) completed the study. All participants submitted CPD records to the research team before and after receiving the posted resources. The records (n = 226) were scored blindly by the researchers using the framework. A subgroup of CPD records (n = 96) submitted first (before-stage) and rewritten (after-stage) were analysed separately.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

Scores for CPD records received before and after distributing group-dependent material through the post.

RESULTS

Using a linear-regression model both analyses found an increase in CPD scores in favour of the active intervention group. For the complete set of records, the effect was a mean difference of 9.9 (95 % CI 0.4-19.3), p value = 0.04. For the subgroup of rewritten records, the effect was a mean difference of 17.3 (95 % CI 5.6-28.9), p value = 0.0048.

CONCLUSION

The intervention improved participants' CPD behaviour. Training pharmacy professionals to use the framework resulted in better CPD activities and CPD records, potentially helpful for revalidation of pharmacy professionals.