The findings are summarised below. Evidence suggested that workload pressures influenced career decisions of recently qualified pharmacists. Eden et al.[44] conducted 12 telephone semi-structured interviews with pharmacists who had qualified within the last 5 years. Results showed that regardless of the sector (hospital or community) in which the pharmacists had gained work experience, workload pressures commonly influenced career decisions. Out of 12 participants, nine began their preregistration year in hospital and three in community. Of the three community pharmacists, only one remained in full-time community

employment at the time of the research. Interestingly, most of the participants drug discovery (eight out of 12) held a job as a part-time community relief/locum pharmacist. Seven of these

eight completed a hospital preregistration year. Workload pressures in community pharmacy were commonly linked to the need to meet specific business requirements. Community pharmacists also complained of a lack of resources (support staff in particular), meaning that their day-to-day routines ‘became monotonous and unfulfilling.’ selleck compound Increased job satisfaction levels were seen when more opportunities for clinical roles were given to pharmacists. However, workload pressures meant that the time available for clinical activities was limited. The authors suggest that clearer guidance on staffing levels and provision of adequate support staff may help alleviate this problem. Additional qualitative research by McCann et al.[45] suggested community

pharmacists recognised C59 cell line their role has changed considerably leading to, amongst other things, increased workload which led to greater stress. Semi-structured interviews with 17 community pharmacists in Northern Ireland revealed that interruptions were also perceived contributors to job-related stress. Furthermore, participants suggested that the above, combined with a lack of breaks, could potentially lead to errors being made. Pharmacists felt that on some occasions support staff were not appropriately trained which hindered the delegation of work. Adequate rest breaks were seen as important by almost every interviewee but it was reported that these did not always materialise in practice. Isolation, professional role expansion and continuing professional development (CPD) were additional factors perceived as contributing to job stress. Gidman et al.[42] conducted qualitative research on female community pharmacists in England with respect to role expansion and increasing workloads. The results suggested that most of the participants enjoyed various aspects of their expanded role, but found new roles difficult to realise practically alongside traditional responsibilities. Most of the participants perceived workload in the community pharmacy sector to be high and that this led to increased pressure and stress within the workplace.