Pharmacists Turnover Intentions - Essay Example

Pharmacists Turnover Intentions 10 November 2009 Introduction The pharmaceutical industry plays a very important role in the health of people. It is a sector that develops, produces and markets all licensed drugs for both preventive and curative medications which can be either generic or branded (patented) medications. Pharmaceutical firms are required by regulation to prove the safety and efficacy of drugs before these can be marketed. Its importance is shown by the number of drugs developed to combat the lifestyle diseases like hypertension and diabetes, for example. In addition, the pharmaceutical industry is also credited with developing the oral pill which altered peoples social and sexual behavior, anti-depressants, analgesics, antibiotics, sedatives and tranquilizers, to name just a few. This industry plays a vital part in the health care industry, as without drugs, doctors have nothing to prescribe to their patients. It is credited with improving health and increasing longevity. The industry has been subjected to competitive pressures like those from competing nutritional supplements and products from field of complementary and alternative medicine. There were also new regulations separating prescription and non-prescription drugs. Global trends point to a downward pressure on drug prices while advocacies like environmentalism and animal rights (use of animals as testing subjects) further put the industry on notice in its practices. The growth of Internet has fueled the rise of consumerism which transformed the pharmaceuticals industry in a substantial way. Easy access to on-line information about drugs and the availability of on-line pharmacies allowed people to purchase directly that bypassed its marketing and distribution channels. The industry has to fight patent infringements and accusations of disease-mongering to frighten people into buying unnecessary medications. Discussion The pharmaceutical industry can be understood from the perspective of big business. Drug discovery and development that begins with identifying a chemical compound as a new potential drug is a very long and expensive process. It starts with pre-clinical development, clinical trials and an on-going safety monitoring process that can jack up the total cost of new drugs to approximately $1 billion before these drugs can even be marketed. If marketing and other expenses are included, that figure hovers close to $1.8 billion before any revenue can be realized. The economics of the industry is to produce drugs which treat illness in big numbers of people rather than just a few rare diseases. This raises some ethical questions because drug makers would rather produce drugs which are profitable due to the large investments involved and how drugs for certain illnesses like HIV-AIDS which had reached epidemic proportions should be priced in the poorer countries where people could hardly afford them. Besides pricing policies, the industry has been involved in both controversial and legal issues as well. Accusations have been made that some clinical trials of new drugs that were sponsored or funded by the big companies often produce favorable results; trials that report negative results are intentionally not published in medical journals. Researchers that had unfavorable results or who raised serious questions about certain drugs were threatened with lawsuits by drug companies because their studies had shown serious side effects. The pharmaceutical industry has faced legal and legislative issues such as lawsuits for civil action against side effects of drugs which often result in large awards by juries. The drug firms favor a reform of tort law that will limit these compensatory awards. The industry also spends an inordinate amount on advertising, marketing and lobbying; this results in very close relationships with those who prescribe their drugs: doctors and nurses. Drug firms lavishly spend on these “prescribers” such as seminar sponsorships and continuing medical education. Labor Turnover In the highly-competitive job market like the pharmaceutical industry, HR managers of these firms are told to focus on recruitment and retention of performing managers and sales people. In a tight labor market like what this industry is facing, the two primary reasons for employee resignations are frustrations with the pay structure and lack of job satisfaction. The turnover rate is more or less steady at between 10-11% annually (Mott 2000: 1) and those who left their jobs stayed approximately for three years only. The primary reason for leaving is job stress (especially those in chain and institutional settings) and the second reason for leaving is dissatisfaction with the salary together with limited advancement (Branham 2005: 5) The use of drug therapy and increased demand for these medications are contributory to job stress as more sophisticated consumers are now very demanding in the service levels they expect. The deterioration of the working environment due to increased client demands had also contributed to a high turnover rate in the industry plus the labor shortage has made shifts to another job easier for those leaving. The labor turnover has adversely affected the industry as well as health care organizations when the workers efficiency (who left) is replaced by a temporary hire or a new employee who must be trained. It is expected the training costs is up to four times the annual salary of the employee who had left. The efficient dispensation of the drugs is thereby decreased by a new employees unfamiliarity. However, big pharmaceutical firms are finding out that those who left cite another reason for leaving which is the lack of career opportunities within the firm (Wilton 2006: 11). In January 2006, the turnover rate had rose to an alarming 16.9% with about 60% of the firms having difficulty finding new qualified recruits. About half of all pharmaceutical firms report they had a hard time in retaining good employees. Financial rewards alone cannot be used to retain good people and employers need to find tools to motivate their employees to remain. The scope of pharmacy practice is wide which ranges from dispensing medications in a variety of settings like hospitals, clinics, offices of health care organizations and even home services like that rendered in retirement homes. Although pharmacists are highly-trained and skilled health care professionals, the multiplicity of settings and varied roles had contributed to their job stress as patients are now more assertive due to growing consumerism. This is due to rising health care costs of which medications are a big part of the health insurance bill. The patients themselves now take a more active role in the management of their medications due to easy availability of drug information (Anderson, 2000). Pharmacists can practice in areas other than those mentioned above such as retail chain or individual drugstores, in the pharmaceuticals industry itself or serve in various regulatory agencies of the government. Other new areas are in supermarkets and mass merchandisers where other products not related to pharmacy itself are sold like food snacks, shampoos, office supplies, beauty products, home-care products, cosmetics and confectionery. The new products add more work to the pharmacist contributing significantly to job stress. It can be noted that more female pharmacists leave their employment than male pharmacists. The most common setting for pharmacists are in health care institutions like hospitals and clinics. Hospitals can be either private or public and these hospital pharmacies provide a good training ground due to complexity of issues in a hospital setting like many medications requiring specific indications, safety level, effectiveness issues and patient compliance issues. Hospital pharmacies which are by necessity located within the premises or somewhere nearby also carry stock medications in larger numbers than other pharmacy settings. An offshoot of this is clinical pharmacy practice where pharmacists work directly with patients in helping the doctors and nurses during their rounds. Pharmacists can also practice as consultants based on a thorough review of the patients medication regimen and possible drug interactions. Pharmacy Practice in Kuwait Kuwait has lately seen an increase in the number of students taking up pharmacy as a course and as a profession. This is due to significant financial government support given to students who are mostly female. Prior to 1996, there was a real shortage of pharmacists in the country because there was no pharmacy school yet and most pharmacists were trained abroad (Al-Wazaify et. al. 2005). Most Kuwaiti pharmacists work in public sector like government funded hospitals unlike other countries in the region like Jordan where most are in the private sector. The language of instruction is English and some 98-99% of students are female and 40 students graduate annually. Almost all the graduates end up working for the government due to limited opportunities for private pharmacy practice in the country. Unlike other countries, there are practically no community pharmacies in the country as people have a very different perception of them, such as likening it to a visit to a supermarket and not to a drugstore. Conclusion Due to limited opportunities, most pharmacists who work in the government like the Ministry of Health are confined to doing administrative and other non-pharmacy related work like order taking, inventory control and management, personnel management and odd jobs in the government hospitals or in the ministry. Most public hospitals do not have a pharmacy in them (only one hospital provides clinical pharmacy services). People also need to change their attitude towards community pharmacies but pharmacists need to do more interaction with the customers and patients such as dispensing not only medications but also medical advice. There is another reason why pharmacists leave other than low pay. It is the frustration they encounter when supply chains in the pharmaceutical industry are disrupted. This is due to a monopoly situation with one importer authorized by Ministry of Health to distribute drugs at a fixed price (Arabian Business) but there are times imported drugs do not arrive on time. References Al-Wazaify, M., Matowe, L., Albsoul-Younes, A. & Al-Omran, O. A. June 16, 2005, Pharmacy Education in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, February 15, 2006, 70 (1), p. 18, on-line, available: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1636892/ Anderson, L. W. July 1 2000, Pharmacists Feel the Effects of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising, Pharmacy Today, 6 (7), on-line, American Pharmacists Association, available: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/406772 Arabian Business.com October 3 2000, Stock Horror: For Physicians and Pharmacists, Drug Shortages are Proving to be an Increasingly Bitter Pill to Swallow, on-line, available: http://www.arabianbusiness.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=501417&Itemid=1 Branham, L. 2005, The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave: How to Recognize the Subtle Signs and Act Before Its Too Late, New York, NY, USA: Amacom Division of the American Management Association. Mott, D. A., May 15 2000, Pharmacist Job Turnover, Length of Service and Reasons for Leaving, American Journal of Health-system Pharmacy, on-line, available: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/406884_1 Wilton, P., 2006, Pharmas Big Turnover, World Pharmaceutical Frontiers, on-line, available: http://www.worldpharmaceuticals.net/editorials/010/011_WPF010new.pdf Read More