A survey evaluating nurses' perception and expectations towards the role of pharmacist in Pakistan's healthcare system.

AIM: This paper is a report of a study of nurses' perception towards the role of pharmacist in Pakistan healthcare setup.

BACKGROUND

Collaborative care by the healthcare professionals has the potential to improve patient care, enhance patient safety and to reduce workload issues that cause burn out among healthcare professionals.

DESIGN

A quantitative (cross-sectional) study design was adopted.

METHOD: A sample of 458 nurses was selected from government hospitals of three cities of Punjab, Pakistan. The study took place from 10 January 2009 to 15 March 2009.

RESULTS

Two hundred and sixty-six questionnaires were returned, giving the response rate of (58·07%). Three-fifths of the nurses reported that they had once a day interaction with the pharmacist. Seven-tenths of the nurses expected the pharmacist to take personal responsibility for resolving any drug-related problems. Moreover they appear to have high expectations of the pharmacist, almost nine-tenths regarded pharmacists as knowledgeable drug therapy experts, and almost two-thirds of the nurses emphasized on counselling of patient by the pharmacist.

CONCLUSION

Nurses in Pakistan showed negative perception towards the role of pharmacist in healthcare setting. Although nurses considered pharmacist as a drug information expert but their expectation did not match their experience. A possible factor for this behaviour could be due to nurses' belief that incorporating the role of pharmacist in patient care, may decrease their worth and can result in intrusion into their duties.