How Pharmacist Are Gaining Public Trust

Medical diagnosis

Pharmacist-patient relationship is very vital for medication adherence and compliance. That is why pharmaceutical care (P.C) is one of the most valuable practice of the profession. PC is a very broad practice that there is no one single definition that clearly explain it all.
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The practice of PC is drawing patients to pharmacist. Not only that, many patients are getting turn off by their medical doctors. Patients complain of the time they visit the hospital, the time the doctor gets to see them and when they eventually leave with poor service altogether. Take for example, a patient gets to the hospital at 5 am and see a medical doctor at 9 am. During diagnosis, the medical doctor spend an approximately 11 seconds listening to the patient before interruption. The interuption is not an open ended question for more explanation. It is usually a close ended question that require a yes or no answer. That automatically ends the diagnosis questions.  To many patients, this is not enough time to explain signs and symptoms. Before they know it the doctor has already drafted down prescription. Many of these patients eventually leave with the feeling the medical doctor careless about their health condition. With that mindset, Medication adherence and compliance will be poor and the therapeutic outcome poor. However the truth is the actually the number of patients the doctor wants to attend to before leaving.
If the patient gets well after the doctor's visit, they praise the doctor for having vast knowledge about their condition with just few information. But this does not last for long after paying another visit and the treatment fails.  However, if the treatment fails, they always blame the poor time given to them by the medical doctor. Going back is not an option. They can't think of wasting another day with same procedure that my not work. They look for an alternative. In most cases, they visit the community pharmacy.
In the community pharmacy, patients can walk in whenever they like and speak to the pharmacist in charge. In some cases, wait a few minutes. They are well attended to. They express their mind as the pharmacist listen with rapt attention and empathy. This is all some patients need to get well.
Any prescription that comes the way of the patient will lead to adherence and compliance. This is one of the leading reason patients are getting satisfaction from the services of pharmacist.
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However, how long can pharmacist hold on to this advantage is a serious question that need answers. This is because in many cases, the pharmacist are now having more patients they attend to unlike years ago. Gradually, the rush hour encountered in the hospital is gradually creeping into the practice. There is no gain making patients wait in a community pharmacist asking them if they don't exhibit patience in hospital. They are all trying to avoid that stress. If pharmacist can employ more hands to reduce this rush hour, gaining the trust of the patient will go a long way in pushing pharmacist service to the face of the government with better respect.
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