Responsibility and confidence: Identifying barriers to advanced pharmacy practice

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Practice
• Clinical Decision-Making
• Healthcare Professional Development

Background:

• Pharmacists report low confidence and responsibility in patient-centered care.
• Existing evidence is limited in explaining these trends in pharmacy practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore reasons behind pharmacists' lack of responsibility and confidence.
• To identify barriers in various pharmacy practice settings.

Main Methods:

• Conducted interviews with 18 pharmacists via written response, face-to-face, or telephone.
• Analyzed interview transcripts to identify common themes related to confidence and responsibility.

Main Results:

• Identified six themes acting as barriers: medical system hierarchy, role definitions, responsibility evolution, decision ownership, mentorship quality, and personality traits.
• Response rate was 62% (18 out of 29 invited pharmacists).

Conclusions:

• Six barriers hinder pharmacists' self-confidence and responsibility development.
• Findings offer insights for educational reform, curriculum changes, and experiential learning in pharmacy.
• Results should be interpreted cautiously due to study limitations (bias, small sample size).