Background and ObjectivesWe implemented a naloxone education and distribution program in our academic health system. Despite the program, naloxone prescribing was not fully realized. This study aimed to identify the barriers to prescribing.MethodsWe conducted a prospective, cross‐sectional, mixed‐methods study of naloxone prescribers. Participants completed a questionnaire regarding their prescribing practices, attitudes, facilitators, and barriers to prescribing naloxone. Participants were then invited for an interview to further explore these topics and elicit more in‐depth explanations.ResultsSixty‐four physicians and eight pharmacists completed the questionnaire (n = 72). The most commonly reported barrier to prescribing naloxone was time constraints (33%). During the interviews, 14 subthemes emerged within four themes: provider competency, provider beliefs, health care system, and patient factors/social climate.DiscussionPrescribers identified barriers to naloxone prescribing despite implementation of an institutional overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) program. The results were similar to those previously reported prior to initiation of such programs.ConclusionIn this study, we examined barriers and facilitators to naloxone prescribing. Although previous studies have shown that health care providers endorsed similar barriers, our study indicates that some of those barriers persist despite a concerted effort to educate and promote prescribing via an OEND. While our study is limited by a small, selective sample size the results indicate that improvements to our OEND program are warranted.Scientific SignificanceOur study addressed an unexplored area of OEND research and may inform future program development. (Am J Addict 2019;00:00–00)
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted pharmacy education and caused significant transformation in student learning and assessment. Pharmacy PA faculty transformed the traditional PA teaching and practicum to virtual utilising Zoom. PA practicum consists of demonstration of a set of short videos, followed by students identifying incorrect techniques, describing the correct technique, and the purpose of the specific PA skill. After completion of the virtual PA practicum examination, students were invited to complete a 20-item survey about their perceptions. Most students preferred blended learning (56.8%) format over in-class, even though students performed significantly better on the traditional practicum (0.89+0.13) rather than the virtual (0.84+0.11). Hands-on skills are an integral part to PA instruction and learning, making innovations in virtual delivery and assessment vital for student success. This pandemic gave opportunities to explore curricular innovations as our virtual formats provided alternative approaches to review and summative assessment of PA.
COVID-19 offered an unexpected turn of events for businesses worldwide. Being a small business and independent pharmacy, closing our doors to the public was a frightening experience. With the fear of the coronavirus and stay-at-home orders, our staff knew we needed to take matters into our own hands. As a small-town pharmacy, we pride ourselves on going above and beyond for all our customers. Our motto at Patterson Family Pharmacy is "where you are known" and we can guarantee anyone who walks in our doors will be treated like family from the start! For the past two months we have been increasing our reminder calls for refills due, establishing a steady flowing drive-thru, and offering multiple deliveries a day to patients in surrounding areas. With the shortage of masks in our town we found a local seamstress willing to provide reusable masks to our staff and patients. In addition, our staff has been distributing goodie bags with multivitamins and alcohol pads to all patients as a token of appreciation for supporting our business during these troubling times. We understand the concerns associated with coronavirus and hope to ease the stress one patient at a time!
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