فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

Background: The pharmacists’ roles and responsibilities toward the pharmaceutical care practicehave developed considerably during the recent years. Objectives: The aim of this program is toexplore the opinions and performances of community pharmacists with regard to their professionaltasks and responsibilities in Isfahan city. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectionalquestionnaire survey of community pharmacists was conducted on a sample of 150 pharmacistsusing the Delphi process. Data were collected on the opinions and performances of thepharmacists’ task, professional responsibility and expertise, organizational and managing skills,and sociodemographic information. Results: The response rate was 93.3%. High expressionsof agreement were found with most of the task and professional responsibilities and managerialskills and the mean rates of the self-reporting performance of most key tasks were ‘always’. Theimportant differences were found in two opinions about the pharmacists’ responsibilities, (a)declining to dispense the prescribed drug that was not appropriate for the patient’s illness and (b)keeping the patient’s medical records for future needs. The pharmacists’ opinions on various formsof professional expertise were diverse, especially on recognizing that the required medicationswere not prescribed for the patient, being informed on the pharmacotherapy subsequenceand predicting the therapeutic outcomes, interpreting the laboratory tests results, and assistingpersons in need of emergency first aid. Conclusion: Pharmacists largely agreed with mostof the professional tasks and responsibilities, however, new educational programs should bedeveloped to promote the pharmacists’ knowledge and skills concerning pharmacotherapy. Alsoan extended role for pharmacists needs to be addressed in the pharmacy regulations and laws.