Assessing How COVID-19 Impacted Pharmacists’ Work Activities, Job Satisfaction
Two posters presented at APhA 2024 examined how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted pharmacists and their work.
The COVID-19 pandemic took a significant toll on the entire health care industry, disrupting normal functioning due to an influx of patients. In an effort to alleviate some of the burden caused by the public health crisis, pharmacists stepped up in a big way and took on a large expansion of services. In particular, community pharmacists quickly became key providers of vaccines and crucial points of health information for their patients.
A pharmacist hands medication to a patient / Clayton D/peopleimages.com - stock.adobe.com
It has now been well established that the new workload led to burnout among pharmacists, as well as a decline in their mental and physical health. At the American Pharmacists Association 2024 Annual Meeting and Exposition, held in Orlando, Florida, from March 22 to 25, 2 posters examined how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted pharmacists and their work.
In the first poster, a team of investigators from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy conducted a study to assess how much time community pharmacists spend in work activities, how that time has changed since March 2020, how much of their patient care activities is appointment based, and how satisfied they are with the time they spend in work activities.1
The study cohort included 1971 participants working in a community pharmacy setting who responded to a descriptive online survey for the 2022 National Pharmacist Workforce Survey. Of respondents, 38.2% reported working in a large chain setting. Investigators found that 75.3% of respondents’ workweek was spent providing patient care services associated with dispensing medications. Compared to other settings, those working in an independent or small chain pharmacy spent significantly more time (12.7%) providing non-dispensing patient care services.
The administration of vaccines took up 11 hours per week for 44.2% of respondents, with an additional 11 hours per week spent on drug consultation for 26.7%. Approximately 60% of all respondents said they spent around 10 hours providing medication therapy management or medication synchronization. Since March 2020, most respondents said they spent about the same amount of time in each specific patient care activity. However, they also said that they spent either the same or more time on administrative duties.
READ MORE: Consumer Survey Data Show Opportunity, Challenges in OTC Space
Additionally, more pharmacists working in independent of small chain settings reported being satisfied with time spent in work activities (61.9%) compared to those working in in large chain (23.8%), mass merchandiser (23.1%) and grocery (29.2%) settings. The most common reasons given for dissatisfaction at work were having too many tasks, spending too much time giving vaccines and not having enough technicians or staff.
“The results show that since early 2020, community pharmacists have been maintaining or reducing time spent in specific patient care services and significant dissatisfaction in time spent in work activities,” the authors concluded. “There has been variability across community pharmacy setting types in their time demands and associated satisfaction with time spent. How community pharmacies manage their work systems to engage pharmacists in patient care services is an important topic of future research.”
In the second poster, investigators from the University of Wisconsin-Madison conducted an additional study using the 2022 National Pharmacist Workforce Survey data to examine the frequency of reasons provided by community pharmacists related to why they plan on remaining or leaving their current job.2 The study cohort included 2007 respondents who reported working in a community pharmacy setting.
Investigators found that more pharmacists working in large chain, mass merchandiser, and supermarket settings said they intended to leave their job compared to those working in independent or small chain settings. Of 744 participants who responded to a question about how likely it is they will leave their current employer within a year, 22.8% said they plan to stay and 15.8% said they plan to leave. The most common reasons for staying were financial and overall job satisfaction. The most common reasons for leaving were working conditions and financial.
“This study is the first known one to examine the reasons why community pharmacists’ were staying or leaving their jobs 3 years after the start of COVID-19,” the authors concluded. “As part of a larger National Pharmacy Workforce study, it has elucidated the critical need for pharmacy leaders to step up and help address the underlying issues that contribute to pharmacist turnover. Nevertheless, based on the responses, there are employers that have implemented strategies to retain their pharmacy workforce. From providing ways to maintain a work-life balance, encouraging a team environment, and ensuring proper compensation, these strategies are retaining skilled pharmacists within the community pharmacy sector.”
Read more of our coverage from the 2024 APhA Annual Meeting & Exposition here.
