Pharmacists as vaccinators: An analysis of their experiences and perceptions of their new role

Gerges, Sandra; Peter, Elizabeth; Bowles, Susan K.; Diamond, S; Bucci, Lucie M.; Resnick, Anne; Taddio, Anna

doi:10.1080/21645515.2017.1403695

Cited by 33 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…It is not known whether newer practitioners were more interested in embracing expanded scope of practice or if they felt more pressure to obtain immunization training to obtain and maintain professional employment. This was observed in a recent qualitative study, in which respondents felt compelled to become certified and provide immunizations for employment 46…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Pharmacists’ immunization experiences, beliefs, and attitudes in New Brunswick, Canada

Isenor

Slayter

Halperin

et al. 2018

Pharm Pract (Granada)

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Background:The expansion of pharmacist scope of practice to include provision of immunizations has occurred or is being considered in various countries. There are limited data evaluating the experiences of Canadian pharmacists in their role as immunizers.Objective:To describe the experiences of pharmacists in the Canadian province of New Brunswick as immunizers, including vaccines administered and perceived barriers and facilitators to providing immunizations.Methods:An anonymous, self-administered, web-based questionnaire was offered via email by the New Brunswick Pharmacists’ Association to all its members. The survey tool was adapted, with permission, from a tool previously used by the American Pharmacists Association and validated using content validity and test-retest reproducibility. Pharmacist reported immunization activities and perceived facilitators and barriers to providing immunization services were assessed.Results:Responses from 168 (response rate of 26%) were evaluable. Approximately 90% of respondents worked in community practice full time, 65% were female and 44% were practicing for 20 or more years. Greater than 75% reported administering: hepatitis A and B, influenza, and zoster vaccines. The majority of respondents felt fully accepted (agreed or strongly agreed) as immunization providers by patients, local physicians, and the provincial health department (97%, 70%, and 78%, respectively). Most commonly reported barriers were: lack of a universally funded influenza immunization program, insufficient staffing and space, and concerns around reimbursement for services.Conclusions:Pharmacists in New Brunswick, Canada are actively participating in the provision of a variety of immunizations and felt fully supported by patients and other healthcare providers. Barriers identified may provide insight to other jurisdictions considering expanding the role of pharmacists as immunizers.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Pharmacists’ immunization experiences, beliefs, and attitudes in New Brunswick, Canada

Isenor

Slayter

Halperin

et al. 2018

Pharm Pract (Granada)

Self Cite

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“…Similarly, Canadian pharmacists have reported that providing immunization services allows them to improve the relationships they have with their patients and to get to know their patients more. 22 The participants in this study reported that immunization in community pharmacies would be cost-saving for patients and would, therefore, reflect the active role of the pharmacist towards the community. Although community pharmacybased influenza vaccination is associated with reduced health-related costs, 23 little is known about the economic impact of allowing pharmacists to provide the influenza vaccine to patients in Jordan.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

<p>Pharmacists’ Perspectives on Providing the Influenza Vaccine in Community Pharmacies: A Qualitative Study</p>

Nusair¹,

Arabyat²,

Mukattash³

et al. 2020

RMHP

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The objective of this study was to explore community pharmacists' views on providing influenza vaccine administration services in community pharmacies in Jordan. Methods: The current study is a cross-sectional exploratory study conducted using semistructured telephone interviews. The semi-structured interview schedule was developed by the researchers and comprised open-ended questions aligned with the study objectives. The telephone interviews were recorded and fully transcribed, and the transcripts were quantitatively coded following a generic qualitative approach. Results: A total of 19 pharmacists took part in this study. Eight participants (42.1%) reported that they had administered the influenza vaccine during their practice. The three overarching themes which described the participating pharmacists' views towards providing influenza vaccine administration services in community pharmacies were benefits, enablers, and barriers. The reported benefits included enhanced therapeutic relationships with patients and increased patient accessibility to vaccines. The majority of the participants indicated that they would be more willing to provide influenza vaccine administration if they received the support they needed from the Jordan Pharmacists Association, third-party insurance companies, and drug stores. Further, from the participants' perspectives, the main barriers to this change in practice were physicians, regulations, and lack of sufficient training. Conclusion: Overall, the participating pharmacists had positive attitudes towards administering the influenza vaccine in community pharmacies. The participants highlighted the need for support from regulatory bodies and stakeholders to change the current scope of practice in Jordan. Moreover, the study highlighted the need to incorporate vaccine administration in the curricula used to train new pharmacy graduates.

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“…This common challenge was reported in many countries such as Canada and Australia, where a erce averseness from the physicians toward permitting pharmacists to administer vaccinations. The reasons behind this opposition and lack of support were reasoned that pharmacists were not adequately or effectively trained to do vaccination or to manage adverse effects following vaccine administration [17][18][19].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Barriers to Implementing a Pharmacist-Run Immunization Service, as Perceived by community Pharmacists in a Middle Eastern Country: A cross sectional web-based survey

Abou-Abbas¹,

Hassan²

2021

Preprint

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Background: Several barriers to instigating a pharmacist-run immunization program existed. This survey aims to identify the barriers perceived by Lebanese community pharmacists (CPs) to implementing such a program and the association of these barriers with their willingness to provide immunization services.Methods:A cross-sectional study using an online survey was conducted over the period of time extending between the 1st of November and the end of December 2020 among Lebanese community pharmacists. The questionnaire included information on their socio-demographic characteristics, willingness to vaccinate and the perceived barriers to the run of immunization service. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 24.0. Two logistic regression were conducted, one to identify factors associated with pharmacists high perception of barriers and another one to determine the predictors of the pharmacist’s willingness to vaccinate.Results:Out of the 412 surveyed community pharmacists, 67.48% of them were willing to expand their practice scope to include immunization. The main perceived barriers were the conflict with other professionals, liability, and reimbursements concerns, time for professional development and lack of knowledge of adverse events after immunization. Our results showed that females were more likely to perceive barriers than males (aOR=2.460, 95% CI (1.876:6.909)). However, pharmacists reporting previous experience in immunization (aOR=0.250, 95% CI (0.170:0.586)), working in urban area (aOR=0.451, 95% CI (0.199:0.926)) and having extensive working hours (aOR=0.244, 95% CI (0.05:1.2)) were less likely to perceive barriers. Female pharmacists were less willing to vaccinate (aOR=0.211, 95% CI (0.116:0.383)). However, having less than 40 years old (aOR=2.518, 95% CI (1.236:5.130)), having large experience ((aOR=1.78, 95% CI (1.087 to 2.993)) or previous experience in immunization (aOR=1.702, 95% CI (1.092 to 3.141)), being pharmacy owner (aOR=1.504, 95% CI (1.098:2.103)) and working more than 24 hours per week (aOR=2.622, 95% CI (1.447:4.752) were positively associated to the willingness to vaccinate. Pharmacists who perceived reimbursement (aOR=0.449 with 95% CI (0.264-0.765)), lack of pharmacy space (aOR=0.410 with 95% CI (0.158-1.060)), sharp safety (aOR=0.298 with 95% CI (0.146-0.609)) and insufficient staff (aOR=0.388 with 95% CI (0.190-0.794)) as barriers were less likely to implement pharmacy-run immunization.Conclusion:Addressing the identified barriers driving pharmacist’s lower willingness to vaccinate would be required to fully harness the potential of pharmacists as vaccinators.

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Pharmacists as vaccinators: An analysis of their experiences and perceptions of their new role

Abstract: These findings suggest that pharmacists are accepting of their role as vaccinators but more research is needed to examine impact on workload and pharmacist knowledge and perceptions of injection-related pain and fear.

Cited by 33 publications

References 33 publications

Pharmacists’ immunization experiences, beliefs, and attitudes in New Brunswick, Canada

Pharmacists’ immunization experiences, beliefs, and attitudes in New Brunswick, Canada

<p>Pharmacists’ Perspectives on Providing the Influenza Vaccine in Community Pharmacies: A Qualitative Study</p>

Barriers to Implementing a Pharmacist-Run Immunization Service, as Perceived by community Pharmacists in a Middle Eastern Country: A cross sectional web-based survey

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