Assessment of Pharmacists Experiences and Attitudes Toward Professionalism and its Challenges in Pharmacy Practice

Nowadays pharmacists should be involved in patients care and providing pharmaceutical care more than before, but still there is a gap between standard of care and pharmacy practice in pharmacies. In this study we aimed at evaluating the pharmacists experiences and attitudes about ethical professional practice in pharmacies. The study was conducted in the Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. This study performed as a mixed method study including 12 semi-structured interviews and two focus group discussions (FGDs). All interviews and FGDs were recorded verbatim. The study evaluates the pharmacy practice based on the Code of Ethics for National Pharmaceutical System requirements. Our study presents the pharmacists ethical challenges in 14 areas of practice such as lack of proper pharmacists-patients and inter and intra-professional relationship; poor management of medication error; lack of pharmacists awareness about their responsibilities, professional rules and regulations; non-OTC drug dispensing without prescription; no collaboration with custodian organizations; dissatisfaction from profession; financial problems; mismanagement in confronting with ads and offers of pharmaceutical companies, and conflict of interest; and uneven drug distribution during shortage. For providing standard pharmaceutical care modification of infra structures, educational system and regulations in pharmaceutical system is highly recommended.