Lynch Matthew, O'Leary Aisling C
School of Pharmacy & Biomolecular Sciences , University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin 2, Ireland.
National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics, St. James's Hospital, James's St., Dublin 8, Ireland.
Explor Res Clin Soc Pharm. 2023 Sep 9;12:100329. doi: 10.1016/j.rcsop.2023.100329. eCollection 2023 Dec.
Shortages in healthcare workers affects the overall delivery and effectiveness of the provision of healthcare. There are currently insufficient pharmacists working in the community sector in Ireland. While several studies have reported on the factors leading to retention in the medical and nursing profession, there is an absence of robust research examining retention within the pharmacist workforce in Ireland.
To identify and understand the range of factors currently at play in the community pharmacy sector in Ireland which influence the decision-making process for pharmacists deciding whether or not to continue to practice as a community pharmacist.
A cross-sectional qualitative descriptive study was used to investigate the factors influencing community pharmacist retention as elicited from the lived experiences of 23 pharmacists. Study recruitment was undertaken using both convenience and purposive sampling. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the interview data to identify and explore themes.
A broad and diverse range of factors were identified as affecting community pharmacist retention including working conditions, career fulfilment and progression, regulatory and administrative burden, the commercial focus within community practice, lack of representation and their overall health and well-being.
The findings show that there are a number of factors which either individually or cumulatively influence a pharmacist's decision to stay in or leave community practice. Various areas for change were identified, which if addressed are considered likely to improve retention in the sector. These include enhanced terms and working conditions, better acknowledgement and resourcing of professional activities, improved opportunities for career progression, reforms to the regulatory model including the personal accountability of a supervising pharmacist for all of the pharmacy's professional activities, a more streamlined model of reimbursement and more effective collective representation.
医护人员短缺影响了医疗保健服务的整体提供和效果。爱尔兰社区部门目前药剂师数量不足。虽然有几项研究报告了导致医生和护士职业留存率的因素，但缺乏对爱尔兰药剂师队伍留存情况的有力研究。
确定并了解目前爱尔兰社区药房部门中影响药剂师决定是否继续从事社区药剂师工作的一系列因素。
采用横断面定性描述性研究，调查23名药剂师的生活经历中影响社区药剂师留存率的因素。研究招募采用便利抽样和目的抽样相结合的方法。采用定性内容分析法对访谈数据进行分析，以识别和探索主题。
确定了一系列广泛且多样的影响社区药剂师留存率的因素，包括工作条件、职业成就感和职业发展、监管和行政负担、社区药房业务的商业导向、缺乏代表性以及他们的整体健康和幸福感。
研究结果表明，有许多因素单独或累积地影响药剂师留在或离开社区药房工作的决定。确定了多个需要变革的领域，如果加以解决，有望提高该部门的留存率。这些领域包括改善工作条件和待遇、更好地认可专业活动并提供资源、改善职业发展机会、改革监管模式，包括监督药剂师对药房所有专业活动的个人问责制、简化报销模式以及更有效的集体代表制。
