Hospital Pharmacists’ Participation in Multidisciplinary Ward Rounds: Physicians’ Perceptions and Attitudes

Aims: To survey the physicians’ perceptions and attitudes towards pharmacists’ participation in multidisciplinary ward rounds (MDWRs) and to ascertain their acceptance of such practice in the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH).
Methods: This study was conducted at the UMTH, between September and October, 2011 using a validated questionnaire. The self-administered questionnaire was distributed to consented physicians out of the 246 physicians in the active service of UMTH as at the time of this study. The questionnaire was composed of three parts investigating the physicians’ perceptions and attitudes towards pharmacists’ participation in MDWRs. Data analyses were done using descriptive statistics and student’s t test with p < .05 significant difference.
Results: A total of 151 questionnaires were completed and retrieved (response rate = 88.8%). Nearly one-half (49.6%) of the target physicians which translates to most participated physicians that perceived that drug related morbidity and mortality are often preventable and pharmaceutical services can reduce the number of Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs), and the length of hospital stay of a patient. A little above one-half (50.4%) of the population agreed that pharmacists’ participation in MDWRs enables pharmacists provide educational services on drug related issues to other members of health care team, while 49.2% agreed that it enables pharmacists function and serve as integral members of the health care team. Nearly one-half (49.2%) of the target physicians disagreed that pharmacists’ participation in MDWRs diminishes the responsibilities of physicians prescribing for patients. More than one-half (56.5%) of the target physicians reported that they consult pharmacists when confronted with drug related problems. The indices of physicians showing how they perceived pharmacists’ participation in MDWRs and their attitudes towards it were 42.1% and 48.7% respectively. The mean of physicians’ attitude index and that of year of experience in practice showed significant difference (p < .05) when paired, it was revealed that physicians with lower year of practice experience exhibited more positive attitudes than their older colleagues.
Conclusion: Physicians at the study area had positive perceptions and attitudes towards pharmacists’ participation in MDWRs. Therefore, they were of the opinion that they would welcome such practice in the UMTH.