Continuing Pharmacy Education Programs Research Articles

A Model for Continuing Pharmacy Education

To develop and implement a continuing pharmacy education (CPE) program at Kaiser Permanente Colorado (KPCO) DESIGN: To address the continuing education needs of its diverse pharmacy staff, an internal continuing pharmacy education (CPE) program was developed. The pharmacy department became an accredited provider by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE). Live, interactive, and evidence-based CPE programs, presented by highly qualified internal staff members, utilized videoconferencing and a Web-based learning management system. Cross-accreditation of medical and pharmacy educational programs was offered to KPCO staff members. Annual needs assessments were conducted to ensure the provision of relevant educational topics and to assess learning needs. To demonstrate outcomes of the CPE programs, 2 methods were utilized: objective effectiveness assessment and knowledge acquisition assessment. This program met the objectives for CPE activities a large majority of the time (usually over 90%), demonstrated statistically significant (p < 0.05) improvement in knowledge from before to after the CPE activity in 11 of 13 questions asked, and minimized the cost to acquire CPE credit for both the pharmacy department and its staff members. The KPCO continuing pharmacy education program has developed a high quality and cost-favorable system that has resulted in significant improvements in attendee knowledge.

Factors affecting job and career satisfaction among community pharmacists: A structural equation modeling approach

To investigate the effects of continuing pharmacy education (CPE), preceptorship, and the relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic factors affecting job and career satisfaction. Cross-sectional study. Two grocery store pharmacy chains located in Indiana between May 2002 and February 2004. 108 community pharmacists. Self-administered survey. Structural equation modeling was used to determine the effects of intrinsic and extrinsic factors, perceived benefits of CPE, advanced training, and being a preceptor on community pharmacists' job and career satisfaction. Job satisfaction predicted career satisfaction (regression weight 0.49, P = 0.007). The final model comprised extrinsic factors only (regression coefficient = 0.897, P = 0.013) with reasonable-fit indices (X2 ratio = 1.38, root mean square error of approximation = 0.07 [90% CI 0.05-0.09], Bentler comparative fit index 0.915). Intrinsic factors were omitted because of insignificant regression weight (B) in the initial model (B = 0.24, P = 0.278). CPE and preceptorship provided significantly positive effects on extrinsic factors, with coefficients of 0.30 (P = 0.029) and 0.27 (P = 0.027), respectively. While perceived value of being a preceptor contributed significantly to extrinsic factors related to job satisfaction, it was associated with a negative impact on career satisfaction (B = -0.41, P = 0.005). Advanced training had a negative impact on career satisfaction (B = -0.21, P = 0.114). Job and career satisfaction are significantly influenced by extrinsic factors and may increase when pharmacists enroll in CPE programs and/or precept students. Pharmacists may engage in precepting in an attempt to increase job satisfaction. Further research in this area is needed.

Community pharmacists' knowledge of and attitudes toward oral chemotherapy

To assess community pharmacists' attitude toward and knowledge of oral chemotherapy (OC) in terms of drug indications, general dosing principles, drug interactions, adverse effects, and special handling precautions. Descriptive, nonexperimental, cross-sectional survey. Colorado, Kansas, and the southeastern United States in May and June 2005. 1,080 pharmacists in four divisions of a large community pharmacy chain. Web-based survey. Pharmacist knowledge of and attitude toward OC. 243 surveys were returned (response rate 22.5%). Overall, pharmacists answered 49.7% of knowledge questions correctly. Pharmacists were most knowledgeable about general dosing principles (69%) and least knowledgeable about adverse effects (45%) and special handling (25%) of OC. Higher scores were seen for pharmacists who dispensed a greater number of OC prescriptions. Percentages of correct responses did not vary based on years of experience or number of OC continuing pharmacy education (CPE) programs attended. On a Likert-type scale of 1 (low) to 5 (high), the average comfort in dispensing OC was 2.4. On average, pharmacists indicated that knowing about OC was important to their practice (3.7) and expressed interest in participating in additional CPE programs on OC (4.2). Of respondents, 94.7% indicated that their pharmacy did not have a counting tray devoted to cytotoxic drugs. This survey identified several areas in which pharmacists' knowledge of OC could be enhanced. Handling of OC is an area of important need, given the low number of pharmacists reporting separate counting trays for cytotoxic drugs.

The Effectiveness of Commitment to Change Statements on Improving Practice Behaviors Following Continuing Pharmacy Education

To determine the effectiveness of commitment to change (CTC) statements on behavior or practice change after a continuing pharmacy education (CPE) program, and to assess the percentage of CTC statements that are linked to program objectives. Following a CPE program, 33 participants were asked to complete a CTC statement and describe changes that they planned on making in their behavior as preceptors. Six months later participants were asked to return the CTC statement and note the status of the change. Twenty-eight participants completed the CTC. Twenty-one (75%) participants returned the CTC statement 6 months later with a status report. Seventy percent of the 56 changes described by the 21 participants had been fully implemented. The majority of the changes (88%) matched program objectives. Writing a CTC statement following completion of a CPE program may positively affect behavior change.

Pharmacists' Attitude to the Introduction of Automated Techniques in the Delivery of Pharmaceutical Services in Selected Nigerian Teaching Hospitals

This study has investigated the attitude of hospital pharmacists toward the introduction of automated techniques in the delivery of pharmaceutical services in three Nigerian Teaching Hospitals. The results obtained from this survey showed that pharmacists have a good understanding of the various forms of automated techniques in pharmacy operations. The general perception showed that these techniques will impact positively on different aspects of the pharmacists' functions including routine dispensing, drug inventory management, and administrative tasks. Computerization of the appropriate database and ease of accessibility including an online communication network within the health system would ease the pharmacists' administrative functions. The respondents felt that their pharmaceutical care functions would be enhanced greatly as the routine manual tasks are taken care of with the automation. In particular, the pharmacists' time would be released for a close monitoring of patient drug therapy and provision of drug information services. The general consensus was that appropriate training workshops and continuing pharmacy education programs would provide practicing pharmacists with the required skill to manage automated pharmacy systems.

Evaluation of self-assessment tests for predicting long-term knowledge retention

To determine if posttests administered immediately following a continuing pharmacy education (CPE) program are reliable predictors of long-term knowledge retention, a portion of three posttests used in three successive CPE programs was readministered to attendees of those programs eight to 21 weeks later. Results of the posttest taken immediately following each program indicate that new information was communicated to the participants. However, when the second posttest was administered, scores dropped significantly and were no better than pretest scores from each program. These findings suggest that posttests administered immediately following a continuing education program do not predict long-term knowledge retention.

A Continuing Pharmacy Education Program

A "nonequivalent control group" design was employed to measure the effectiveness of a continuing education program developed to enhance a communitypharmacist's ability to respond to requests for nonpre scription medication. Trained observers were used to unobtrusively measure the pharmacist's behavior before and after the educational event. Data analyses indicated a significant improvement in the partici pant pharmacists' abilities.

Accrediting Continuing Pharmacy Education Programs

Accrediting Continuing Pharmacy Education Programs