Direct patient care practices in community pharmacies in Bayelsa and Rivers State in the Niger Delta Area of Nigeria

Direct patient care practiced in community pharmacy settings remains among the best remedy to the ever-emerging meddling practices of allied health and non-health personnel in the health promotion and disease prevention function of the pharmacy profession. The professional strides for totally owning this hub, though in the progress, were not easy in prehistoric times, nor is it getting any easier now. This study determines the extent of practice carried out in direct patient activities (patient counseling, patient care and technology standards) in community pharmacies in Bayelsa and Rivers states as at the year 2017. Of the three hundred and thirty seven (337) questionnaires distributed, three hundred and twelve (312) were retrieved (92.58% retrieval rate). The questionnaire was constructed in likert form with responses as “never”, “rarely”, “sometimes”, “often” and “always”. The results were analyzed using non parametric analysis using SPSS version 23. Young male pharmacists having B.Pharm (177; 56.7%) with 6 to 10 years’ experience (140; 44.9%) in self-owned premises (190; 60.8%) were observed to contribute significantly to the study domains. Pharmacists were reported to always carry out patient counseling activities (44.2%), always carry out patient care activities (35.9%) and never, apply technological applications in community pharmacies (45.9%) in the study area. Community Pharmacy Practice is below recommended standards in the two states. Improvement is needed in the hub of direct patient care to maintain the needed pharmaceutical care practice and philosophy.