Background Workload of healthcare providers may affect the quality of healthcare. Practical evidences have indicated that healthcare providers are differentially associated with workload due to their different education and training background. Clinical pharmacists are an indispensable part of medical teams. Under the precondition that clinical pharmacists in China generally undertake uneven clinical pharmacy workload, the relationship of workload and clinical pharmacists’ different education backgrounds remains unclear. This study aimed to assess the association between the education background of clinical pharmacists and their clinical pharmacy workload in China. Methods A field questionnaire survey using a stratified sampling was conducted to gather data on education background and clinical pharmacy workload through a self-developed instrument. Ordinary least squares regression was used to evaluate the association of the participants’ education background with their clinical pharmacy workload. Results A total of 625 clinical pharmacists from 311 tertiary hospitals in China participated. Two levels of education: less than bachelor’s degree in general pharmacy, or doctoral degree in clinical pharmacy was associated significantly with clinical pharmacy workload of the participants. Participants who had credentials of national level and provincial-level specialized training for clinical pharmacists had undertaken more work than those without. Moreover, the participants’ specialized field, such as respiratory medicine and nephrology, was associated with their clinical pharmacy workload. Conclusion Enhancing several aspects of education or training among clinical pharmacists in tertiary hospitals in China may help improve their capability to provide clinical pharmacy services. Efforts are needed to improve the education and training system of clinical pharmacists in China.
Objectives: This study aimed to understand current status of pharmaceutical care barriers and explore the impact of them on the role ambiguity and role conflict of clinical pharmacists in secondary and tertiary hospitals in mainland China.Methods: The Chinese version of Role Conflict and Role Ambiguity Scale was used to measure clinical pharmacists’ role ambiguity and role conflict. A questionnaire for clinical pharmacists’ pharmaceutical care barriers was established to determine whether clinical pharmacists encounter barriers. Multiple linear regression model was used to analyze the influence of various pharmaceutical care barriers on the role ambiguity and role conflict of clinical pharmacists.Results: 1,300 clinical pharmacists from 31 provinces were eventually included. The results revealed that commonly perceived barriers to pharmaceutical care by clinical pharmacists include the lack of financial compensation and dedicated time for pharmaceutical care. Barriers such as clinical pharmacists’ unawareness of the importance of pharmaceutical care increase the degree of clinical pharmacists’ role conflict. And the lack of financial compensation for pharmaceutical care decreases the degree of role ambiguity, while barriers such as the lack of dedicated time for pharmaceutical care, the failure to standardize the service procedures and contents of related documents in healthcare institutions increase the degree of role ambiguity.Conclusion: Increased focus on enhancing financial compensation, responsibility cognition, education and training, and greater consideration of institutional factors could help clinical pharmacists better manage their work environments and provide higher-quality pharmaceutical care.
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