SURVEY ON THE PRACTICE AND AWARENESS OF HOSPITAL PHARMACISTS' ROLE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY IN VIET NAM

Huỳnh Thảo Vy Nguyễn1, Huy Chương Nguyễn1, Hồng Thắm Phạm 1,2, Thị Hà Võ 1,3,
1 Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine
2 Gia Dinh hospital
3 Nguyen Tri Phuong hospital

Main Article Content

Abstract

Objective: This study was intended to determine Vietnamese hospital pharmacists’ practices, and awareness of their roles during the COVID-19 epidemic. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional descriptive research by an online survey over the three months when the strictest social distancing regulations were implemented in Vietnam (July 25 to October 28 2021). The questionnaire consisted of three sections comprising 11 items on general characteristics, 33 items on practice, and 8 items on awareness of the roles of hospital pharmacists. Results: Among the 256 participants, 71.1% were females and 23.4% had post-graduate degrees. Among the respondents, 87.5%, and 87.29% had positive feedback regarding the compliance of practice of hospital pharmacists and of pharmacy faculty to safety measures for epidemic prevention and control, respectively. In term of practice, drug supply activities and pharmaceutical care activities had positive feedback by 94.0% and 59.42% of the respondents, respectively. In regard to the perceptions of pharmacist’s roles, 95.7% agreed that pharmacists were responsible for ensuring the availability of key medicines, and 89.0% stated that pharmacists should implement “telepharmacy”. Conclusion: The results from this study can show the important role of hospital pharmacists during the COVID-19 epidemic in ensuring safety against epidemics, drug supply and clinical pharmacy.

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References

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