The Role of Pharmacist in Patient Counseling

Abstract

The role of pharmacist in patient counseling is well defined. However, the extent of provision of this service is the one which varies within and between practicing sites. The service is demanded by patients, government, pharmacy profession and in a few countries legislation was released in response to this demand. Unfortunately many of the advancement in pharmacy practice in the hospitals have not been transferred to the community pharmacies. Patient counseling is one of several pharmaceutical services provided in hospitals and the main function for the pharmacists in community pharmacy. Ambulatory pharmacy is the new setting under which patient counseling is offered to all patients in the hospital. The role of the pharmacist in patient counseling is confronted with several legal, cognitive, attitudinal and situational barriers. The barriers are well recognized and considered as real problems with logical explanations and relatively simple solutions. We need to maintain our mission initially by solving the pharmacist-related barriers. If we managed to create the competent pharmacist who cares for the patients, the rest of the barriers will be easier to tackle. This paper will address the subject in more detail in the full text