Strategies for Effective Hospital Pharmacy Staff Development

An active staff development program (SDP) for pharmacists has been associated with provision of higher levels of pharmaceutical care within health-care institutions. Adequate support from pharmacy management, institutional administration, the medical staff, and the pharmacy staff itself is necessary for a successful, ongoing SDP. A SDP run concurrently with implementation of clinical pharmacy services allows pharmacists to immediately apply new skills and knowledge. Such a SDP should emphasize not only information necessary for performance of the clinical service, but also should develop drug information retrieval, problem solving, and organizational skills. A SDP should use a variety of media and methods, with an emphasis on interactive and active learning formats. The staff pharmacists should occasionally make some of the presentations themselves. Continuing education credit should be provided through the SDP. Feedback regarding the success of the newly implemented clinical services should be supplied to the pharmacists as a motivator for continued learning; feedback to administration is necessary for continued justification of both the SDP and clinical services. The hospital pharmacy literature is replete with accounts of successful staff development programs. At Saint Patrick Hospital, a SDP initiated concomitantly with implementation of new clinical services has enjoyed both success and longevity.