Knowledge, attitude, and perception of the clinicians, nurses, pharmacists, patients, and public on compounding, dispensing, and labeling services of pharmacists in a hospital

A pharmacist is a professional who dispenses medicines, counsels patients, and advises health care stakeholders on the rational use of medicines. The study is therefore an attempt to determine the awareness about the pharmacy profession among stakeholders.

This is an exploratory and descriptive study, designed to describe and explore the Knowledge, Attitude, and Perception (KAP) of the role of a pharmacist in the compounding, dispensing, and labeling of drugs. The statements included in the questionnaire were largely based on the guidelines issued by the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI). Questionnaires were randomly provided to clinicians, pharmacists, nurses, public, and patients. The questionnaire was then taken back and kept for analysis of response. 514 stakeholders participated in the study. The results are expressed as percentages and frequencies.

All stakeholders agreed that during compounding, dispensing, and labeling, pharmacists ensure that drug products should match the prescription and appropriately compounded, packed, and labeled. All stakeholders except nurse (99%) agreed that during compounding, dispensing and labeling pharmacist ensure that drug product is within the expiry date. 34.9% of patients agreed that while dispensing the drug to the patient/attendants, appropriate information on drugs is given by the pharmacist.

The present study reveals that clinicians and nurses do not have sufficient confidence on the supportive role of a pharmacist in the health care team for better patient care. The pharmacist also needs to work proactively and through his knowledge, expertise and skills generate confidence amongst the patient and health workers that he can perform his expanded role effectively and thus promote patient health.