Professional nurses’ challenges regarding drug supply management in the primary health care clinics

Drug Supply Management (DSM) is the core responsibility of pharmacists and pharmacist assistants however in practice South Africa has a huge shortage of pharmacists. In order to deal with excessive shortage of pharmacy personnel, the DSM responsibilities were handed over to professional nurses throu...

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Main Authors: Eleanor Mflathelwa Dube, Sibusiso Memory Zuma
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2022-01-01
Series:International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214139122000051
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author Eleanor Mflathelwa Dube
Sibusiso Memory Zuma
author_facet Eleanor Mflathelwa Dube
Sibusiso Memory Zuma
author_sort Eleanor Mflathelwa Dube
collection DOAJ
description Drug Supply Management (DSM) is the core responsibility of pharmacists and pharmacist assistants however in practice South Africa has a huge shortage of pharmacists. In order to deal with excessive shortage of pharmacy personnel, the DSM responsibilities were handed over to professional nurses through strategies such as task shifting which were introduced as an alternative method to improve access to health care services especially in the Primary Health Care (PHC) clinics.The purpose of the study was to explore the challenges experienced by professional nurses regarding the implementation of the drug supply management standard operating procedure in the primary health care setting of the City of Ekurhuleni. The study was conducted in primary health care clinics in the City of Ekurhuleni. Method: An exploratory contextual qualitative research design was followed. The study population included all professional nurses working in the City of Ekurhuleni. Purposive sampling was used to select a sample of professional nurses with at least two years’ experience. Semi-structured interviews were conducted. Data analysis was conducted and using qualitative content analysis. Results: The study identified the following challenges: non-adherence to the standard operating procedure for drug supply management, human resources challenges, inadequate management support and compromised patient care. Conclusion: The suggested recommendations from the study will promote adherence to the standard operation procedure regarding drug supply management outcomes.
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spelling doaj.art-b4ce6b2d5d6346a7b2d868f3daf213be2022-12-22T02:27:41ZengElsevierInternational Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences2214-13912022-01-0116100398Professional nurses’ challenges regarding drug supply management in the primary health care clinicsEleanor Mflathelwa Dube0Sibusiso Memory Zuma1Department of Health Studies, University of South Africa, P.O. Box 392 UNISA 0003, South AfricaCorresponding author.; Department of Health Studies, University of South Africa, P.O. Box 392 UNISA 0003, South AfricaDrug Supply Management (DSM) is the core responsibility of pharmacists and pharmacist assistants however in practice South Africa has a huge shortage of pharmacists. In order to deal with excessive shortage of pharmacy personnel, the DSM responsibilities were handed over to professional nurses through strategies such as task shifting which were introduced as an alternative method to improve access to health care services especially in the Primary Health Care (PHC) clinics.The purpose of the study was to explore the challenges experienced by professional nurses regarding the implementation of the drug supply management standard operating procedure in the primary health care setting of the City of Ekurhuleni. The study was conducted in primary health care clinics in the City of Ekurhuleni. Method: An exploratory contextual qualitative research design was followed. The study population included all professional nurses working in the City of Ekurhuleni. Purposive sampling was used to select a sample of professional nurses with at least two years’ experience. Semi-structured interviews were conducted. Data analysis was conducted and using qualitative content analysis. Results: The study identified the following challenges: non-adherence to the standard operating procedure for drug supply management, human resources challenges, inadequate management support and compromised patient care. Conclusion: The suggested recommendations from the study will promote adherence to the standard operation procedure regarding drug supply management outcomes.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214139122000051ChallengesDrug supply management (DSM)Professional nurseStandard operating procedure (SOP)
spellingShingle Eleanor Mflathelwa Dube
Sibusiso Memory Zuma
Professional nurses’ challenges regarding drug supply management in the primary health care clinics
International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences
Challenges
Drug supply management (DSM)
Professional nurse
Standard operating procedure (SOP)
title Professional nurses’ challenges regarding drug supply management in the primary health care clinics
title_full Professional nurses’ challenges regarding drug supply management in the primary health care clinics
title_fullStr Professional nurses’ challenges regarding drug supply management in the primary health care clinics
title_full_unstemmed Professional nurses’ challenges regarding drug supply management in the primary health care clinics
title_short Professional nurses’ challenges regarding drug supply management in the primary health care clinics
title_sort professional nurses challenges regarding drug supply management in the primary health care clinics
topic Challenges
Drug supply management (DSM)
Professional nurse
Standard operating procedure (SOP)
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214139122000051
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