Hospital pharmacists feel not skilled enough to provide care to cancer patients

Pharmacists working in hospitals do not see themselves competent enough to handle cancer patients, a study has shown.

“Previous research has shown community pharmacists do not have high perceived competence or confidence providing care to patients on oral anticancer medications,” the investigators said. “There is a paucity of evidence when it comes to hospital pharmacists providing care to oncology patients admitted to the hospital for a reason other than cancer.”

To address this, an anonymous cross-sectional survey was distributed to hospital pharmacists across Canada to evaluate the perceived competence of pharmacists not working in oncology in managing patients taking anticancer medications. The investigators also identified factors impacting, potential interventions increasing, and any factors that improve perceived competence.

The mean perceived competence among hospital pharmacists ranged from 2.52 to 3.97 out of 7.00. Respondents reported most perceived competence in managing electrolyte disturbances and least competence in managing drug-disease interactions and intervening on hepatic dysfunction.

Hospital pharmacists also reported low confidence in knowledge received from previous oncology training, with a mean of 2.82 on the 7-point Likert Scale. On the other hand, they considered continuing education (CE) sessions as most effective in improving perceived competence, with a mean value ranging from 5.92 to 5.94 out of 7.00.

Notably, the number of CE hours completed in the last 5 years was the only factor that showed a significant association with perceived competence.

“The implementation of a CE program related to oncology may improve perceived and actual competence,” the investigators said.