Limitations to the dynamics of pharmaceutical care practice among community pharmacists in Enugu urban, southeast Nigeria

BACKGROUND: The introduction of pharmaceutical care in Nigeria has been faced with many challenges in addition to limited information regarding the practice. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the barriers encountered by community pharmacists in Nigeria in the provision of pharmaceutical care. METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive survey was carried out in Enugu urban, southeast Nigeria. Data were collected using pretested and structured 5-point Likert scale questionnaires that were self-administered to the respondents. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: The 78 community pharmacists comprised 62 males and 16 females. Out of the 78 respondents, 69 (88.5%) had the basic Bachelor of Pharmacy degree while three (3.9%) had Fellowship, Master’s, and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees respectively. The mean number of years of practice was 8.2 (±0.6). The key limitations to the implementation of pharmaceutical care were: pharmacists’ attitude and lack of pharmaceutical care skills, as well as resource and system-related constraints. Others challenges were interprofessional and academic obstacles like lack of collaboration (66.6%) and lack of role models (42.1%). Most of the respondents (81%) were strongly willing to adopt and implement pharmaceutical care, while 19.2% were not strongly willing to practice pharmaceutical care. CONCLUSION: Despite limitations to practice, community pharmacists in the area are very inclined to implement pharmaceutical care in the private sector to improve patients’ quality of life.