Abstract

ASSESSMENT OF THE LEVEL OF PHARMACEUTICAL CARE PRACTICE AMONG COMMUNITY PHARMACISTS IN ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA

? Akueyinwa Lovet Esther Uzondu, Eustace Egere, Josephat Ogbonna

Abstract

Pharmaceutical care requires pharmacists to incorporate new behaviours into their practices including documentation, patient assessment, determination of therapeutic objectives, implementation of monitoring plans, patients counseling, screening of patients' records, evaluation of patients and possible referral. The study aimed at assessing the extent to which community pharmacists in Enugu State conform to the pharmaceutical care guidelines and the level of importance attached to the practice. A 25 item questionnaires, which was divided into 2 parts to reflect the major aspects of pharmaceutical care, were distributed to selected community pharmacies to determine potential for pharmaceutical care in terms of facilities available, and how the pharmacists discharged their professional duties on day-to-day basis. Z test statistics was used as a statistical parameter. It was found that some shops (23.81%) were too small in size and some do not have the facilities required for adequate provision of pharmaceutical care. Again, the pharmacists were found to be more interested in economic pursuit than pharmaceutical care. Most of the pharmacists were not providing pharmaceutical care and records were poorly kept and maintained. Continuing Education for pharmacists was a necessity for pharmacists to interact more with their patients while maintaining adequate facilities and environments like counseling rooms for optimal provision of pharmaceutical care.

Keywords: Pharmaceutical care, community pharmacists, Enugu.