General practice pharmacists' implementation of advanced clinical assessment skills: a qualitative study of behavioural determinants.

Rushworth, Gordon F.; Jebara, Tesnime; Tonna, Antonella Pia; Rudd, Ian; Stewart, Fiona; MacVicar, Ronald; Cunningham, Scott

Abstract

The role of General Practice Clinical Pharmacists is becoming more clinically complex. Some are undertaking courses to develop their skillsets. The aim of this study is to explore potential behavioural determinants influencing the implementation of skills gained from Advanced Clinical Examination and Assessment courses by General Practice Clinical Pharmacists. This study used a qualitative methodology with theoretical underpinning. General Practice Clinical Pharmacists in the Scottish National Health Service, having completed an Advanced Clinical Examination and Assessment course, were invited for online dyadic (paired) interviews. Informed written consent was obtained. The interview schedule was developed using the Theoretical Domains Framework and piloted. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using a framework analysis. Ethics approval was obtained. Seven dyadic interviews were conducted. These included fourteen pharmacist participants from eight Health Boards. Three main themes were identified: 1. Factors influencing implementation of advanced clinical skills by pharmacists; 2. Social and environmental influences affecting opportunities for pharmacists in advanced clinical roles; 3. Perceptions of pharmacist professional identity for advanced practice roles. Nine sub-themes provided a depth of insight including; participants reporting courses allowed clinically autonomous practice; participants shared frustration around social and environmental factors limiting implementation opportunities; participants expressed a need for clarification of professional identify/roles within current contractual mechanisms to allow them to fully implement the skills gained. This work identified numerous behavioural determinants related to implementation of advanced clinical skills by pharmacists in general practice. Policy, and review of implementation strategies are urgently required to best utilise pharmacists with these skills.

Citation

RUSHWORTH, G.F., JEBARA, T., TONNA, A.P., RUDD, I., STEWART, F., MACVICAR, R. and CUNNINGHAM, S. 2022. General practice pharmacists' implementation of advanced clinical assessment skills: a qualitative study of behavioural determinants. International journal of clinical pharmacy [online], 44(6), pages 1417-1424. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-022-01484-7

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 3, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Oct 10, 2022
• Publication Date: Dec 31, 2022
• Deposit Date: Sep 8, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 9, 2022
• Journal: International journal of clinical pharmacy
• Print ISSN: 2210-7703
• Electronic ISSN: 2210-7711
• Publisher: Springer
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 44
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 1417-1424
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-022-01484-7
• Keywords: Pharmacists; Professional development; Pharmacy students; Praxis; General practice; Advanced pharmacist practitioner; Advanced practice; Behaviours; Pharmacy
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1744746
• Additional Information: This article has been published with separate supporting information. This supporting information has been incorporated into a single file on this repository and can be found at the end of this document. The preprint of this article was published on Research Square: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1713532/v1