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