Pharmacy Practice in High-Volume Community Settings: Barriers and Ethical Responsibilities
Pharmaceutical care describes a philosophy and practice paradigm that calls upon pharmacists to work with other healthcare professionals and patients to achieve optimal health outcomes. Among the most accessible health professionals, pharmacists have responsibilities to individual patients and to pu...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-04-01
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| Series: | Pharmacy |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4787/9/2/74 |
| _version_ | 1797538886426034176 |
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| author | Christopher T. Owens Ralph Baergen |
| author_facet | Christopher T. Owens Ralph Baergen |
| author_sort | Christopher T. Owens |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Pharmaceutical care describes a philosophy and practice paradigm that calls upon pharmacists to work with other healthcare professionals and patients to achieve optimal health outcomes. Among the most accessible health professionals, pharmacists have responsibilities to individual patients and to public health, and this has been especially evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pharmacists in high-volume community settings provide a growing number of clinical services (i.e., immunizations and point-of-care testing), but according to job satisfaction and workplace survey data, demands related to filling prescriptions, insufficient staffing, and working conditions are often not optimal for these enhanced responsibilities and lead to job dissatisfaction. Professional codes of ethics require a high level of practice that is currently difficult to maintain due to a number of related barriers. In this paper, we summarize recent changes to the scope of practice of pharmacists, cite ethical responsibilities from the American Pharmacists Association Code of Ethics, review data and comments from workplace surveys, and make a call for change. Corporate managers, state boards of pharmacy, and professional organizations have a shared responsibility to work with community pharmacists in all settings to find solutions that ensure optimal and ethical patient care. Attention to these areas will enhance patient care and increase job satisfaction. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:37:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3eb85222fa82467da9328cc34c44205b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2226-4787 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:37:33Z |
| publishDate | 2021-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Pharmacy |
| spelling | doaj.art-3eb85222fa82467da9328cc34c44205b2023-11-21T14:07:53ZengMDPI AGPharmacy2226-47872021-04-01927410.3390/pharmacy9020074Pharmacy Practice in High-Volume Community Settings: Barriers and Ethical ResponsibilitiesChristopher T. Owens0Ralph Baergen1Kasiska Division of Health Sciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID 83209, USADepartment of Philosophy, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID 83209, USAPharmaceutical care describes a philosophy and practice paradigm that calls upon pharmacists to work with other healthcare professionals and patients to achieve optimal health outcomes. Among the most accessible health professionals, pharmacists have responsibilities to individual patients and to public health, and this has been especially evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pharmacists in high-volume community settings provide a growing number of clinical services (i.e., immunizations and point-of-care testing), but according to job satisfaction and workplace survey data, demands related to filling prescriptions, insufficient staffing, and working conditions are often not optimal for these enhanced responsibilities and lead to job dissatisfaction. Professional codes of ethics require a high level of practice that is currently difficult to maintain due to a number of related barriers. In this paper, we summarize recent changes to the scope of practice of pharmacists, cite ethical responsibilities from the American Pharmacists Association Code of Ethics, review data and comments from workplace surveys, and make a call for change. Corporate managers, state boards of pharmacy, and professional organizations have a shared responsibility to work with community pharmacists in all settings to find solutions that ensure optimal and ethical patient care. Attention to these areas will enhance patient care and increase job satisfaction.https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4787/9/2/74community pharmacyethicsjob satisfactionpharmaceutical carepublic healthretail |
| spellingShingle | Christopher T. Owens Ralph Baergen Pharmacy Practice in High-Volume Community Settings: Barriers and Ethical Responsibilities Pharmacy community pharmacy ethics job satisfaction pharmaceutical care public health retail |
| title | Pharmacy Practice in High-Volume Community Settings: Barriers and Ethical Responsibilities |
| title_full | Pharmacy Practice in High-Volume Community Settings: Barriers and Ethical Responsibilities |
| title_fullStr | Pharmacy Practice in High-Volume Community Settings: Barriers and Ethical Responsibilities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pharmacy Practice in High-Volume Community Settings: Barriers and Ethical Responsibilities |
| title_short | Pharmacy Practice in High-Volume Community Settings: Barriers and Ethical Responsibilities |
| title_sort | pharmacy practice in high volume community settings barriers and ethical responsibilities |
| topic | community pharmacy ethics job satisfaction pharmaceutical care public health retail |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4787/9/2/74 |
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