Attitudes of Nursing Facilities' Staff Toward Pharmacy Students' Interaction with its Residents.

OBJECTIVE

All Appalachian College of Pharmacy second-year students undertake the longitudinal geriatric early pharmacy practice experiences (EPPE) 2 course, which involves interacting with geriatric residents in two nursing facilities over two semesters. The study investigated the nursing staff's perceptions about the rotation and the pharmacy students' interaction with nursing facility residents.

STUDY DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SETTING

Academic setting.

PARTICIPANTS

63 nursing facility staff.

INTERVENTIONS

A 10-item attitude survey administered to nursing staff.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Nursing staff attitude toward pharmacy students' interaction with geriatric residents during the course.

RESULTS

Sixty-three responses were received (84% response rate). Most respondents were female (95.2%), who occasionally interacted with pharmacy students (54.8%) and had worked at the facilities for an average of 6.8 years (standard deviation [SD] = 6.7) years. Staff reported that pharmacy students practiced interacting with geriatric residents and nursing facility staff, learned about different medications taken by residents as well as their life as a nursing facility resident. In addition, the student visits improved the mood of residents and staff's understanding of medicines, among others. Staff suggested that students spend more time with their residents in the facility as well as ask more questions of staff.

CONCLUSION

The nursing facility staff generally had favorable attitudes about pharmacy students' visits in their nursing facility. Nursing facility staff noted that the geriatric rotation was a great learning experience for the pharmacy students.