KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PERCEPTION OF HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS (HCPS) AT INTERNAL MEDICINE WARD OF A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL TOWARDS PHARMACEUTICAL CARE

Introduction: Pharmaceutical care entails the work of addressing patient’s medication related needs and problems. The involvement of the pharmacist in India in this regard has been somewhat restricted, contrary to trends in developed countries. Materials and methods: Questionnaire-based explorative, semi-quantitative study involving Doctors, Pharmacists and Nurses of the study department in the following sequence; Design of questionnaire, Pre-testing/validation, Administration, Collection, Evaluation & Interpretation. Results: Out of total 90 questionnaires distributed among health care providers the response rate was measured as 63.3% and less than 40% of the Health Care Providers could answer correctly to the first section of questionnaire intended to assess the knowledge regarding pharmaceutical care. In the perception part 73.3% of doctors agreed and 20% strongly agreed that pharmaceutical services provided by clinical pharmacist can improve the quality of patient care in hospital settings. 66.6% agreed and 26.6% strongly agreed that clinical pharmacist as a part of medical team will minimize medication errors. 73.3% agreed and 20% disagreed that doctors can allow pharmacists to be available with them during ward rounds. In third section of the questionnaire which was for assessment of attitude in doctors 65% of doctors agreed and 20% disagreed that pharmacists are reliable source of drug information, pharmacists can inform doctors if patient has experienced some problems with his medications. Conclusion: The findings of the present study conclude that, clinical pharmacy and pharmaceutical care is still in its infancy as there is lack of knowledge and awareness among health care providers towards pharmaceutical care.