Objectives: To assess the qualifications and performance of newly graduated pharmacists and explore factors that affect their performance in public hospitals. Methods: This qualitative study included face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with hospital practitioner pharmacists. It was conducted between March and May 2023 in Kerbala province, Iraq. The participating pharmacists were selected purposefully because they had three or more years of work experience at governmental hospitals. The audio-recording interviews were transcribed. Thematic analyses were used to generate themes and subthemes from the interviews. Results: Twenty-seven hospital pharmacists participated in this study. The study found that there are several factors that have a negative impact on the performance of newly graduated pharmacists, including college-related and hospital-related factors. Education factors include classic methods of college teaching and the inadequate qualifications of new colleges. Hospital features, including inadequate qualifications for continuous medical education, tools and resources, can also impact pharmacist performance. Additionally, the overwhelming number of pharmacists negatively impacts their training and qualifications. Conclusions: Greater emphasis should be placed on enhancing the pharmacists' practical skills. Close and integrated collaboration between the Ministry of Higher Education and the Ministry of Health is pivotal to enhancing the performance level of prospective pharmacists in hospitals. Finally, controlling the number of admitted students to pharmacy colleges is critical to providing them with adequate training.
In Iraq, because of the dramatic turnovers facing the country for three decades, pharmacists continue to experience significant professional challenges in both the public and private sectors. The present study aimed to explore the professional challenges and obstacles facing Iraqi pharmacists working in public hospitals. This qualitative study included face-to-face semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions with hospital pharmacists. The participants were selected purposefully (with ≥ 3 years of experience) to work at governmental hospitals in Karbala province between December 2022 and April 2023. The audio-recording interviews were scripted. Thematic analyses were used to generate themes and subthemes from the interview
... Show MoreThe aim of study was to explore pharmacist insights toward the impact of prospective implementation of the national health insurance program on patients, providers and Iraqi health system.
This was a qualitative study including semi-structured face-to-face (mostly) interviews with experienced pharmacists. The interview guide included open-ended questions about the impact of the national health insurance program on patients and healthcare providers at three levels: quality of services, costs, and frequency of visits. Potential challenges were also discussed. Interviews were conducted in four provinces from March to May 2022. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the interview findings and generate themes and subthemes.
The
... Show MoreBACKGROUND: Hospital training courses for pharmacy students were required to prepare students to meet the challenges of real-world hospital work. AIM: Because there have been few studies on the efficacy of such courses, we aimed to recognize recent graduates’ perceptions, benefits, and factors influencing the quality of hospital training courses for pharmacy students. METHODS: A qualitative study using a phenomenology approach was conducted in 2022 and included several hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq, using in-depth face-to-face individual-based semi-structured interviews. Until saturation, a convenient sample of recently graduated pharmacists was included. The obtained data were analyzed using a thematic content analysis approach
... Show MoreSurgical site infections are the second most common type of adverse events occurring in hospitalized patients. Surgical antibiotic prophylaxis refers to the use of preoperative and postoperative antibiotics to decrease the incidence of postoperative wound infections. The objective of this study was to evaluate the antibiotic administration pattern for surgical antibiotic prophylaxis and the adherence to American Society of Health-System Pharmacists surgical antibiotic prophylaxis guideline in Medical City Teaching Hospitals/Baghdad. The medical records of one hundred patients who underwent elective surgical procedures were reviewed. Adherence to the recommendations of American society of health‑system pharmacists guideline was ass
... Show MoreIn Iraq, there is a limited research work exploring the clinical pharmacists' role from the point of view of other healthcare professionals. To investigate physicians' assessment of clinical pharmacy services at Baghdad hospitals, and compare junior physicians with senior physicians' point of view. The study was conducted in twelve governmental hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq. Data was collected from a sample of two hundred physicians, and through a validated, self-administered questionnaire, which comprised twenty statements in addition to a non-personal information form that precedes the questionnaire The study findings reveal a somewhat positive point of view towards clinical pharmacists' performance in Baghdad h
... Show MoreIn Iraq, there is a limited research work exploring the clinical pharmacists' role from the point of view of other healthcare professionals.
To investigate physicians' assessment of clinical pharmacy services at Baghdad hospitals, and compare junior physicians with senior physicians' point of view.
The study was conducted in twelve governmental hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq. Data was collected from a sample of two hundred physicians, and through a validated, self-administered questionnaire, which comprised twenty statements in addition to a non-personal information form that precedes the questionnaire
The study findings reveal a somewhat positive point of view towards clinical pharmacists' performance in
... Show MoreThe purpose of this interview study was to explore teachers’ perceptions of Response to Intervention (RtI) implementation in their school. Particularly, the study explored teachers’ knowledge of RtI, teachers’ perceptions of RtI their intervention/instruction in school, and teachers’ suggestions of RtI implementation in their school. The study design was a qualitative interview in nature and data were collected from face-to-face interviews with four teachers in one school. The findings revealed that RtI means to identify students’ problems; the positive teachers’ perceptions of their implementation included: (a) students who demonstrate progress through RtI are those who receive private education services, (b) progress monito
... Show More
A seasonal study of periphytic algae attached to the surface of river boats was conducted in Tigris river in Al Aadhamiya site for the period from October 2016 to May 2017. A total of 107 taxa of periphytic algae were identified belonging to the four classes of algae. The periphytic algae community dominated by Bacillariophyceae was (60.7%) followed by Chlorophyceae (20.5%) and Cyanophyceae (17.7%) Chrysophyceae was constituted (0.9%) of the total number. During the whole period of study filamentous taxa such as Oscillatoria amphibian, Phormidium spp., Spirulinagigantean, Cladophoreglomerata and Melosira roeseana remained the dominant colonizer which may be reflect the ability of this species to grow multiplies under different environmental
... Show MoreObjective: To measure the effect of the pharmacist-led medication reconciliation service before hospital discharge on preventing potential medication errors. Methods: This behavioral interventional study took place in a public teaching hospital in Iraq between December 2022 and January 2023. It included inpatients who were taking four or more medications upon discharge from the internal medicine ward and the cardiac care unit. The researcher provided the patients with a medication reconciliation form and reconciliation form (including medication regimen and pharmacist instructions) before discharging them home. Any discrepancies between the patients’ understanding and the actual medication recommendations prescribed by the physici
... Show More