Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Attitudes of Emergency Department Staff towards the Role of Clinical Pharmacists in a Region of Saudi Arabia - A Pilot Study

Tahir M Khan¹ , Chohan M Shahzad¹, Mueen KK Ahmed¹, Saira Azhar²

¹College of Clinical Pharmacy, King Faisal University, PO Box 400, Al-Ahsa, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; ²Department of Pharmacy, COMSAT, Abbottabad, Pakistan.

For correspondence:- Tahir Khan Email: tahir.pks@gmail.com

Received: 26 September 2011 Accepted: 10 April 2012 Published: 15 June 2012

Citation: Khan TM, Shahzad CM, Ahmed MK, Azhar S. Attitudes of Emergency Department Staff towards the Role of Clinical Pharmacists in a Region of Saudi Arabia - A Pilot Study. Trop J Pharm Res 2012; 11(3):477-483 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v11i3.18

© 2012 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the attitudes and perceptions of medical doctors and nurses in the Emergency Department ED towards the role of clinical pharmacists.

Methods: A pilot study was conducted among the medical and paramedical staff of the ED of Public Hospital, Eastern Region, Saudi Arabia, Al-Ahsa, using a 24-item questionnaire on Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm-D) program as well as clinical pharmacist and medical staff attitudes toward the availability and possible role of clinical pharmacist in EDs. The data analysed statistically.

Results: Sixteen of the 20 respondents expressed a willingness to participate in the study. Six (37.5 %) of the respondents were doctors while the rest were nursing staff. Ten (62.5 %) of the ED staff were aware of the professional degree held by clinical pharmacists (i.e., Pharm-D), and a majority, 12 (75.0 %) had heard of a health care professional called a clinical pharmacist. While exploring medical staff attitude toward the availability of a full-time pharmacist in EDs, 13 (81.3 %) of the respondents viewed this favorably while that regarding the role of pharmacists in drug adherence and patient care was viewed less favorably. Fourteen (87.5%) disagreed with giving prescription rights to clinical pharmacists for minor ailments.

Conclusion: These findings highlight the need to enhance the interaction between the medical and paramedical staff on the one hand, and the clinical pharmacist on the other. Clinical pharmacists need to be given an opportunity to prove their capabilities in direct patient care in order to facilitate the full participation of future Pharm-D graduates in direct patient care in the Saudi health care system.

Keywords: Clinical pharmacist, Medical staff, Emergency department, Direct patient care, Saudi Arabia