Evaluation of Croatian community pharmacists' patient care competencies using the general level framework

Am J Pharm Educ. 2011 Mar 10;75(2):36. doi: 10.5688/ajpe75236.

Abstract

Objectives: To assess Croatian community pharmacists' patient care competencies using the General Level Framework (GLF).

Methods: The competencies of 100 community pharmacists working in 38 community pharmacies were evaluated using an adapted version of the GLF.

Results: Pharmacists demonstrated the best performance in the competency areas drug specific issues and provision of drug products; the poorest performance was in the competency areas evaluation of outcomes and monitoring drug therapy. Pharmacists' behavior varied the most in the following areas: ensuring that the prescription is legal, prioritization of medication management problems, and identification of drug-drug interactions.

Conclusions: Competencies were identified that need to be developed to improve pharmacist interventions in community settings. This study provides the first data on pharmacists' performance in Croatia and serves as a starting point for future studies and actions.

Keywords: Croatia; General Level Framework; community pharmacy; competency; pharmacist.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Clinical Competence*
  • Community Pharmacy Services / organization & administration
  • Community Pharmacy Services / standards*
  • Croatia
  • Drug Monitoring / methods
  • Drug Monitoring / standards
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Patient Care / standards
  • Pharmacists / organization & administration
  • Pharmacists / standards*
  • Pilot Projects
  • Young Adult