Community pharmacies automation: any impact on counselling duration and job satisfaction?

Motivation and Knowledge of Portuguese Community Pharmacists Towards the Reporting of Suspected Adverse Reactions to Medicines: A Cross-Sectional Survey

The close contact between patients and community pharmacists, along with the extensive geographical distribution of pharmacies in Portugal, offer exceptional conditions to detect and report adverse drug reactions (ADR). This study aimed to evaluate the motivation and knowledge of spontaneous reporting of ADR by community pharmacists of Porto, Portugal. Secondly, we aimed to generate real-world evidence on the main factors determining ADR report and at raising potential alternatives to the current reporting procedure in community pharmacy. We performed a descriptive, cross-sectional, observational, anonymous web survey-based study. Between April and July 2021, a web survey was implemented, targeting community pharmacists in the Porto district, Portugal. We validated 217 surveys from pharmacists. Regular notifiers seem to be more familiarised than non-regular notifiers with the Portuguese Pharmacovigilance System (PPS), with the Portal RAM for reporting suspected ADR, and with the update of the concept of ADR. Moreover, regular notifiers seem to be more proactive with their care in questioning patients about ADR and have more self-knowledge to identify suspected ADR. Conversely, non-regular notifiers, seem to be more reluctant to be judged by their ADR reporting activities. Respondents suggested to simplify and optimise the reporting process (31% of the suggestions), or to integrate a reporting platform into the pharmacy's software (27%). This study identified opportunities to promote the ADR reporting process by community pharmacists, namely receiving feedback from the PPS on the reported case and its regulatory implications, implementing training programs in pharmacovigilance, and creating solutions to simplify the reporting process.

Perceptions of community pharmacists to implementing technologies in the workplace: an exploratory study

Background The proliferation of different technologies in pharmacies has begun to change the role and work of pharmacists; however, while workplace integration of technologies has been shown to be beneficial, there are still barriers to their implementation. Few studies have investigated pharmacists' perceptions of these technologies. Objective To investigate the views of community pharmacists on the implementation of technologies in pharmacy practice. Setting Community pharmacies in Auckland, New Zealand. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted June-September 2018 with a convenience sample of 20 pharmacists. Interviews explored current medication management and technologies used to support this service, experiences with technologies, confidence in learning new technologies, and whether the introduction of technologies could solve any needs in pharmacy practice. Data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Main outcome measure Community pharmacists views on pharmacy technologies. Results Four key themes were identified: attitudes to existing medication management technologies, adapting to new technologies, acceptance of technology, and barriers to implementing technology in pharmacies. Pharmacists were accepting of technology to help with medication management and allowing them to provide more patient-centered care. Most pharmacists expressed confidence in using new technologies and viewed technology as a tool to address current limitations in their practice. Barriers to technology were cost, consequences of medication error, fear that technology may replace people, and an over-reliance on technology. Conclusion Community pharmacists made use of several types of technologies to promote medication management, including robotics. While mostly accepting of new technologies to streamline tasks and reduce error, pharmacists highlighted the importance of addressing barriers to technology implementation prior to workplace implementation.

Gender and Age Variations in Pharmacists' Job Satisfaction in the United States

While several studies have attested the presence of systematic gender and age variations in pharmacists’ satisfaction with their jobs, only a few of them have considered both classifications simultaneously. None have done so while systematically examining multiple facets of practitioners’ work. This article estimated U.S. pharmacists’ satisfaction levels with various facets of their work, compared them simultaneously between genders and among age groups, and tested for the presence of gender–age interaction effects. The study was based on self-reported survey data collected from 701 pharmacists (31.0% response rate). Mean and standard deviation values for 18 indices related to pharmacists’ work were calculated. When age groups were controlled, female pharmacists expressed overall higher levels of satisfaction with their job than male pharmacists; they also expressed greater satisfaction with multiple specific facets and with the profession, as well as greater workload and stress than male pharmacists. The findings revealed few significant differences among age groups and a limited gender–age interaction effect for pharmacists’ satisfaction with key facets of their work. These findings should contribute to the development and refinement of rational criteria for increasing sources of satisfaction in pharmacy settings.

Gender, age, and pharmacists' job satisfaction

A comprehensive literature review was conducted on the concept of job satisfaction in the pharmacist workforce field and the facets it comprises, as well as its measurement, aiming to (i) review the nature, mechanisms, and importance of job satisfaction in the context of the pharmacist workforce, (ii) survey some of the most salient facets that configure job satisfaction, and (iii) discuss validity and measurement issues pertaining to it.

Although female pharmacists generally hold less appealing jobs, earn lower wages and salaries, and are promoted less frequently than their male counterparts, they report higher levels of job satisfaction. Age has a U-shape effect on job satisfaction, with middle-age pharmacists less satisfied than both younger and older practitioners. Workload, stress, advancement opportunities, job security, autonomy, fairness in the workplace, supervisors, coworkers, flexibility, and job atmosphere are facets contributing to pharmacists’ job satisfaction. Finally, discrepancy exists among researchers in measuring job satisfaction as a single global indicator or as a composite measure derived from indices of satisfaction with key aspects of a job.

Understanding the mechanisms that affect pharmacists’ job satisfaction is important to employers in their pursuit to respond to practitioners’ needs, decrease turnover, and increase productivity. As pharmacists’ response to work-related conditions and experiences depends on gender and age, a unique set of rewards and incentives may not be universally effective. Additional research into the dynamics of the forces shaping pharmacists’ perceptions, opinions, and attitudes is needed in order to design and implement policies that allocate human resources more efficiently within the various pharmacy settings.

Gender differences in the measurement of pharmacists' job satisfaction

BACKGROUND

Men and women choose different levels of commitment in their careers and at home. Compared to men, women value the significance of tasks performed and social relations more and earnings less. The objective of this study was to explore whether male and female pharmacists show the same levels of satisfaction overall and with key facets of their job, whether overall satisfaction is associated with satisfaction with 12 key facets of pharmacists' jobs, and whether this association is similar for men and women.

METHODS

The study used self-reported survey data collected from a random sample of licensed pharmacists practicing throughout the United States. The sample consisted of 436 males and 300 females. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated to assess the association between overall job satisfaction and its key components. The 13 job satisfaction indices and the Pearson correlation coefficient values were compared by gender.

RESULTS

Women were consistently more satisfied than men. Variations in overall job satisfaction were at best accompanied by moderate variations in the 12 job satisfaction facets, raising concerns about the validity of configuring a composite index from multiple indices of satisfaction.

CONCLUSION

The results of this study can be used by healthcare managers and policymakers to facilitate communication, enhance teamwork, and promote a better allocation of scarce resources. Since men and women responded differently to various facets of their jobs, a constant set of rewards and stimulants may not be equally effective for both genders as employers transform the workplace to more adequately meet practitioners' needs and increase their productivity.

A theoretical framework for the interpretation of pharmacist workforce studies throughout the world: The labor supply curve

Despite geographic, financial, and cultural diversity, publications dealing with the pharmacist workforce throughout the world share common concerns and focus on similar topics. Their findings are presented in the literature in a seemingly unrelated way even though they are connected to one another as parts of a comprehensive theoretical structure. The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical model that relates some of the most salient topics addressed in the international literature on pharmacist workforce. The model is developed along two fundamental ideas. The first identifies the shape and location of the pharmacist's labor supply curve as the driving force behind all workforce decisions undertaken by pharmacists; the second argues that gender and age differences are two of the most important factors determining the shape and location of this supply curve. The paper then discusses movements along the curve attributed to changes in the wage rate, as well as displacements of the curve attributed to disparities in personal characteristics, investments in human capital, job-related preferences, opinions and perceptions, and institutional rigidities. The focus is on the individual pharmacist, not on groups of pharmacists or the profession as a whole. Works in multiple countries that address each topic are identified. Understanding these considerations is critical as employers' failure to accommodate pharmacists' preferences for work and leisure are associated with negative consequences not only for them but also for the healthcare system as a whole. Possible consequences include excessive job turnover, absenteeism, decreased institutional commitment, and lower quality of work.