Determining the Influence of Formal Postgraduate Education on the Career Commitment of Hospital Pharmacists

Abstract

Aim: To determine the influence of formal postgraduate education on hospital pharmacists career commitment using the Blau Career Commitment Scale. Design: Postal survey questionnaires sent to hospital pharmacists across England and Wales. Setting: Questionnaires with prepaid envelopes sent to pharmacists in 153 randomly selected hospital pharmacy departments in the eight NHS regions in England and to Wales. Outcome measure: Evaluation of the type and nature of formal post graduate qualifications held by hospital pharmacists and its influence on Career Commitment Scores. Results: 2025 questionnaires were sent 153 to randomly selected hospitals across England and Wales. 905 completed questionnaires werereturned representing a 44.7% response. Of the respondents, 67.5% had a post graduate qualification and a further 19%, principally in the grades B to D, were pursuing postgraduate training. The mean career commitment score was 22.2 (range 7-35, SD 5.9). Women tended to have higher career commitment scores ( p <0-001} Pursuit or possession of a postgraduate qualification did not significantly affect thecareer commitment scores. Conclusion: Although women had higher career commitment scores, thedifferences may not be conceptually significant. Analysis revealed that the place of work, hours worked and if a post graduate qualification was being pursued made statistically little difference to the overall career commitment score. Pursuit or possession of a postgraduate not qualification did significantly affect the career commitment score. Further research in this group of professionals is required to establish other influences to account for the variance on career commitment.