Baseline Job Satisfaction and Stress Among Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians Participating in the Fleetwood Phase III Study

Abstract

To provide baseline levels of job satisfaction and stress among members of the long-term care pharmacy team participating in the Fleetwood Phase III evaluation. Cross-sectional design; long-term care pharmacy provider in North Carolina (the implementation site of the large-scale Fleetwood Phase III study). All current pharmacy employees as of May/June 2002. None. Health Professional Stress Inventory and job satisfaction. Ninety-four percent (16/17) of consultant pharmacists were satisfied with their job, with 89% reporting they would definitely choose to be a pharmacist again. Seventy-five percent both of dispensing pharmacists and pharmacy technicians reported overall job satisfaction. Forty-one reported that they would not choose to be a pharmacist (pharmacy technician) again. The most frequently reported sources of stress among the dispensing pharmacists and pharmacy technicians were conflicts with non-work obligations (i.e., family, personal life) and the ability to perform duties with short staffing. In addition, inadequate pay and few opportunities for job advancement were often/frequent sources of stress among pharmacy technicians. More than one third of dispensing pharmacists also reported stress frequently because of fears of mistakes in patient treatment. Overall, consultants are very satisfied with their positions, although dispensing pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are less satisfied with their work. The reasons may be because of the different nature of each job, as well as staffing shortages. The extent to which the Fleetwood Model can improve job satisfaction and impact on stress will be evaluated once we resurvey the pharmacy team after the intervention period of the Fleetwood Phase III study.