Class of 2009 Abstract / OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this work is to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention, regarding prescription errors, amongst pharmacy technician students. METHODS: Pharmacy technician students over the age of 18 years attending Apollo College in Tucson, Arizona were eligible to participate. Pretests were given to students to assess baseline knowledge of medication errors. Posttests consisting of questions regarding medication errors were administered to students following a PowerpointTM presentation to assess the effectiveness of the presentation. RESULTS: Pretests and posttests were completed by 18 women and 14 men. Test scores improved significantly from 5.652 to 8.13 out of 10 in the morning class (P< 0.01), 5.8 to 8 in the evening class (P< 0.01), and 5.697 to 8.091 for both classes combined (p< 0.01). Differences in scores based on gender and general employment status did not reach statistical significance (p> 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: An educational intervention is effective in improving pharmacy technician student knowledge about prescription errors.

Darbe lyginami Lietuvoje vykdomi farmacijos specialistų kvalifikacijos kėlimo kursai su pasirinktomis ES šalimis (Kroatija, Vokietija, Prancūzija ir Didžioji Britanija) ir analizuojami Kauno apskrities farmacijos specialistų kvalifikacijos kėlimo kursų ypatumai. / To compare the ongoing pharmacist‘s and pharmacy technician‘s continuing education in Lithuania with selected EU countries and to analyze the features of continuing education courses in Kaunas county.

Background: This research explored regulation and professionalism with respect to the current state of professional practice for hospital pharmacy technicians. Since July 2011 pharmacy technicians must register with the General Pharmaceutical Council in order to practise. An acknowledged benefit of registration is professional recognition; however there is a lack of published research about pharmacy technicians’ professionalism with no study found that offers a holistic exploration post mandatory registration. Method: This study utilised a broad discourse analytic approach to examine how pharmacy practitioners talk about the pharmacy technician role, regulation and professionalism, being sensitive to the content of these accounts but also the ways in which they are constructed and the varying rhetorical effects and power. The sociology of the professions provided the theoretical background for this study to examine the notion of professionalism in modern healthcare and whether or not pharmacy technicians are enabled to undertake the professional practice for which they are now accountable. Data were gathered through interviews with pharmacy technicians, pharmacists and Directors of Pharmacy, which were digitally recorded and transcribed prior to discourse analysis. Findings: The findings illuminate gaps in the professional socialisation of pharmacy technicians related to 1) Policy: a lack of appropriate conditions and opportunities for pharmacy technicians to demonstrate professional practice and contribute to current policy implementation, 2) Practice: pharmacy technicians do not have the supportive infrastructure to enable their own professional practice or carry out research, and 3) Education and Training: current qualifications are traditionalistic and not fit for purpose. Discussion: Recommendations are made in relation to these three concerns, including: development of pharmacy technician practice to take responsibility for the supply chain of medicines; review organisational structures, roles and discourses to enable this clear division of labour; the Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK promotes the development of a ‘Scope of Professional Practice for Pharmacy Technicians’ to support practice development and clarify accountabilities, and improves promotion of pharmacy technician research activity; and finally, review the content and level of pharmacy technician pre- and post-registration qualifications to address identified gaps and to support a structured career pathway. Findings from this study have already been transferred into practice in terms of: development of national recruitment guidance; establishment of a ‘Professionalism Programme’ for all local pharmacy staff; development of terms of reference for a local pharmacy technician professional forum to enable professional development and leadership; and, the initiation of discussions to develop a national pharmacy technician professional forum in Scotland.

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Pharmacists rely on pharmacy technicians to assist with accurately dispensing prescriptions and providing information to clients. Texas does not have regulations for the education or training of pharmacy technicians, which may result in mistakes when dispensing prescriptions, causing significant harm to customers. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was assessing formally and informally trained pharmacy technicians' job performance as perceived by licensed pharmacists/managers. Data were collected via face to face interviews with 9 pharmacy managers in Texas to gain insight into their lived experiences of supervising not formally and formally trained technicians. Audio recorded interview data were transcribed and organized using the NVivo software. The job performance theory was used to help understand and interpret the data. Pharmacists/managers indicated that pharmacy technicians who receive formal training, when compared to those who have been informally trained on-the-job, have more knowledge, better job performance, less need for training and supervision, and greater salary and other job related opportunities. All 9 of the respondents indicated that the State of Texas should develop a formal set of professional standards for pharmacy technicians and require a formal certification training program. The potential positive social change of this study is a better understanding of the job training and performance of pharmacy technicians that can improve services to communities.