Perception on clinical pharmacy services in a private hospital in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Abstract

Clinical pharmacist in Indonesian hospitals has begun to be recognized as an essential part of the healthcare team along with physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals. While recognition is still on the way, the implementation of clinical pharmacy services is still limited. This could occur because of various factors, one of which is the lack of interprofessional collaboration. Interprofessional collaborations with other healthcare provider are necessary for a pharmacist to implement their clinical services. Hence, health professionals' perception of clinical pharmacy services would give a contribution to developing strategies for the service in the hospital. This study aims to determine perceptions of health professionals in a private hospital in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on clinical pharmacy services. A total of 96 nurses and 17 physicians were given a questionnaire with items related to clinical pharmacy services. The result showed that health professionals had a positive perception of the role of the pharmacist in clinical pharmacy service with a total mean score of 0.83. Relationship between respondents' characteristic and their perceptions showed that nurses' workplace (ward) had a significant effect on their perceptions (p<0.05). In contrast, characteristics of age, gender, profession, length of work experience, and interaction intensity with the pharmacist did not reveal significant effect.