Why UK pharmacy must adapt to the increasing demands of professionalism in practice

Objective To make a case for why UK pharmacy must adapt to the increasing demands of professionalism in practice. Methods A review based on evidence from the literature and personal opinion. Key findings Pharmacists, just as with other occupational groups, have over the years been developing and fine-tuning ways through which they can attain full professional status and therefore command the same level of recognition and respect as the main traditional professions, notably medicine and law. Many commentators, however, believe that this ambition is far from being realised. Their argument is that the path to professional status is not that easily available to all occupations. Although there is a professionalisation process that the traditional professions go through, it has been argued that services provided by pharmacy, beyond dispensing, can also promote its level of professionalism; for example, extensive counseling, medication therapy management, health screening, compounding or provision of durable medical equipment. Conclusions As UK pharmacy and the wider UK National Health Service undergo changes and reconfiguration it is hoped that the creation of the new professional body for pharmacy (the Royal Pharmaceutical Society) will help pharmacy in the UK develop the ideals of professionalism.     

药学监护实践——21世纪中国药师面临的机遇和挑战

目的迎接21世纪,促进中国医院药学实践水平的提高,推动医院药学学科向前发展.方法 总结近年来国外介绍药学监护的有关文献,了解药学监护在理论和实践方面的进展,提出我国实施药学监护的策略.结果 药学监护的概念在不断完善,药学监护实践的内容更加具体.本文概述了药学监护实践的学科基础,基本要素及具体实施的过程,提出了面向21世纪,我国实施药学监护的战略.结论 药学监护是医院药学实践的崭新内容,中国药师应加强学习,迎接挑战.     

A Pathway to Professional Identity Formation: Report of the 2020-2021 AACP Student Affairs Standing Committee

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Professional identity formation (PIF) involves internalizing and demonstrating the behavioral norms, standards, and values of a professional community, such that one comes to “think, act and feel” like a member of that community. Professional identity influences how a professional perceives, explains, presents and conducts themselves. This report of the 2020-2021 AACP Student Affairs Standing Committee (SAC) describes the benefits of a strong professional identity, including its importance in advancing practice transformation. Responding to a recommendation from the 2019-2020 SAC, this report presents an illustrative and interpretative schema as an initial step towards describing a pharmacist’s identity. However, the profession must further elucidate a universal and distinctive pharmacist identity, in order to better support pharmacists and learners in explaining and presenting the pharmacist’s scope of practice and opportunities for practice change. Additionally, the report outlines recommendations for integrating intentional professional identity formation within professional curricula at colleges and schools of pharmacy. Although there is no standardized, single way to facilitate PIF in students, the report explores possibilities for meeting the student support and faculty development needs of an emerging new emphasis on PIF within the Academy.     

Dissemination and uptake of a new treatment pathway for paracetamol poisoning in the UK: a survey of healthcare professionals

Aims

On 3 September 2012, the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) notified healthcare professionals of immediate changes to the intravenous acetylcysteine license terms, altering the treatment pathway for paracetamol poisoning. We sought to evaluate awareness of this amongst healthcare professionals.

Methods

We surveyed doctors, nurses and pharmacists in the 1–12 week period following the implementation date.

Results

Forty-four individuals completed the survey in paper form (response rate 86%) and 220 in electronic form (response rate unknown). The resulting sample of 264 individuals was drawn from 41 institutions, and included 143 doctors, 58 pharmacists and 50 nurses. Of these individuals, 157 (59%) were aware of the changes, and 133 (50%) had adopted them in practice. Awareness differed between healthcare professions (P = 0.001) and specialties (P = 0.002). For respondents aware of the changes, the main sources of information were alerts issued internally (reported by 57%), from the MHRA (25%) and from other professional bodies (24%). The proportion of individuals who reported receiving practical implementation instructions (e.g. a protocol) was higher among respondents who had changed their practice than for those who had not (86 vs. 25%, respectively; P < 0.001).

Conclusions

Less than two-thirds of healthcare professionals in specialties managing patients with paracetamol poisoning were aware of important changes to its treatment pathway in the 12 weeks after they took effect, and only half had adopted them in practice. Alternative communication strategies should be explored to improve dissemination of similar information from the MHRA and other medicines regulators in the future.