Over-the-counter counseling in community pharmacies and job satisfaction among pharmacy professionals: A reflection of current scenario and possible solutions

Objectives: This study assessed community pharmacist counseling and dispensing practices to determine their relationship with job satisfaction among pharmacists. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between January 2021 and September 2021on a random sample of community pharmacists. The inclusion criteria were licensed community pharmacists with at least3months of professional experience. The researchers conducted face-to-face interviews using a developed structured questionnaire. The research instrument was comprised of two sections: demographic information and dispensing practices. Data were analyzed using SPSS Version 24. Results: a total of 543pharmacists participated in this study. The average age of respondents was 31 ± 7 SD. The average dispensing practice score was 75% with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of [73.3%, 76.7%]. Better dispensing practices were common among older participants (odds ratio (OR)1.010; 95% CI 1.001–1.020), postgraduates (OR 1.191; 95% CI 1.055–1.344), pharmacists from pharmacy chains (OR 1.452; 95% CI 1.285–1.640), participants with more than 10 years of experience (OR 1.286; 95% CI 1.089–1.520), pharmacists who graduated from regional universities (OR 1.200; 95% CI 1.129–1.497), and pharmacists who graduated from international universities (OR 1.413; 95% CI 1.212–1.648). However, poor dispensing practices were common among participants who were not satisfied with their current community pharmacist job (OR 0.487; 95% CI 0.410–0.577). Conclusion: Patient-centered management strategies oriented toward creating a counseling-friendly environment would open more space to achieve professional self-realization through cognitive services. This could benefit patients via consistent counseling services and increase pharmacists’ satisfaction with their job and profession.