Coping with the burden of the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study of community pharmacists from Serbia.
BMC Health Serv Res
; 21(1): 304, 2021 Apr 06.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33823866
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Rapid spread of COVID-19 forced the public to turn to community pharmacies as the most accessible points of primary healthcare, overloading pharmacy services. The objectives of this research were to detect and describe the changes in work environment of community pharmacists in Vojvodina during the state of emergency due to COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic effects on job related stress were assessed.METHODS:
Community pharmacists from Vojvodina completed an online questionnaire on work environment changes related to COVID-19 (cross-sectional study).RESULTS:
Out of the 1574 licenced pharmacists in Vojvodina, 392 completed the survey. Workload increase, reported by 90.8% of pharmacists, was caused mostly by higher demand for safety equipment, antiseptics and disinfectants, dietary products and medicines. Most pharmacists (93.1%) considered pharmacy workflow to be more complex than before the pandemic. Clients' behavior was described as less pleasant since the start of the pandemic by 67.6% of the community pharmacists. Many were concerned for their health and the health of their families (68.9%). Community pharmacists rated their stress levels higher if they i) were working in larger chains, ii) experienced clients' behavior as less pleasant or/and iii) were concerned for their/their family health.CONCLUSIONS:
Current research pointed out the need for a more robust healthcare system which would allow rapid introduction of new activities and roles for community pharmacists that could possibly decrease job-related stress. Legal steps to improve the work environment in community pharmacies are necessary and urgent in order to fully utilize their skills and knowledge.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Contexto em Saúde:
1_ASSA2030
/
2_ODS3
/
4_TD
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Farmacêuticos
/
Adaptação Psicológica
/
Serviços Comunitários de Farmácia
/
Papel Profissional
/
COVID-19
Tipo de estudo:
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Qualitative_research
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
País/Região como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
BMC Health Serv Res
Ano de publicação:
2021
Tipo de documento:
Article