Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://ahro.austin.org.au/austinjspui/handle/1/30043
Title: Coaching ward pharmacists in antimicrobial stewardship: A pilot study.
Austin Authors: Khumra, Sharmila ;Mahony, Andrew A ;Stewart, Kay;Bergen, Phillip J;Elliott, Rohan A 
Affiliation: Pharmacy
Infectious Diseases
Centre for Medicine Use and Safety, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
Issue Date: 29-Mar-2022
Date: 2022-03
Publication information: Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy 2022; 5: 100131
Abstract: Ward pharmacists are well-positioned to enhance the activities of hospital antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programs by reviewing the appropriateness of antimicrobials and making recommendations to prescribers. However, recent studies have identified gaps in ward pharmacists' AMS practice, knowledge, skills, and confidence which suggests education and training programs are needed. To describe, for the first time, an interactive educational activity - coaching in AMS - targeted at ward pharmacists and explore their perceptions of coaching as a mode of delivering education to improve AMS knowledge, skills, confidence, and practice. A secondary objective was to describe the type, frequency, and acceptance of AMS recommendations made by coached pharmacists. This was a descriptive pilot study with a qualitative evaluation of pharmacists' perceptions and experiences of coaching. AMS coaching was delivered over 2 months in 2019 to pharmacists providing clinical pharmacy services to general medical and surgical wards. A focus group was conducted one month after the coaching period to elicit pharmacists' perceptions of coaching as a mode of delivering AMS education and how it impacted their AMS knowledge, skills, confidence, and practice. AMS recommendations made by coached pharmacists were prospectively recorded, and the prescriber acceptance rate was determined. Ward pharmacists reported positive experiences with AMS coaching and believed it helped them identify a range of recommendations to improve antimicrobial prescribing and increased their confidence to communicate recommendations to prescribers. Workload issues were identified as the main barrier to implementation. Suggestions were provided to improve coaching implementation feasibility. During coaching, 162 AMS recommendations were identified for a range of antimicrobials, and 69% (113/162) were accepted and implemented. Ward pharmacists believed coaching improved their AMS knowledge, skills, confidence, and practice, including their confidence to discuss recommendations with prescribers. These results can assist with the design and evaluation of future hospital-based AMS educational initiatives.
URI: https://ahro.austin.org.au/austinjspui/handle/1/30043
DOI: 10.1016/j.rcsop.2022.100131
ORCID: 0000-0002-3499-8652
0000-0002-7750-9724
Journal: Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy
PubMed URL: 35478520
PubMed URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35478520/
Type: Journal Article
Subjects: Antimicrobial stewardship
Coaching
Education
Feasibility studies
Hospitals
Pharmacists
Pilot projects
Appears in Collections:Journal articles

Show full item record

Page view(s)

90
checked on Dec 3, 2024

Google ScholarTM

Check


Items in AHRO are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.