Vol 3 Issue 2, April– June 2014 www.mintagejournals.com 19 PHARMACY DISPENSING PRACTICE IN VARIOUS PHARMACIES OF KARACHI *DR.SAFILA NAVEED, ISHIMA NAIYARAIN ZAFAR, MARYAM MUSHARRAF, SAMIA YAQOOB, SOBIA ZAMAN, SYEDA ZEHRA JABEEN NAQVI AND TANIA QUDSIA Faculty of Pharmacy, Jinnah University for Women, Karachi. Pakistan. Email: safila117@yahoo.com, safila117@gmail.com. Received -02-02-14; Reviewed and accepted -02-03-14 ABSTRACT Objective: To study the pharmacy dispensing practice carried out in various pharmacies of Karachi focusing on the availability of a pharmacist in the pharmacy and their responsibility as pharmacy dispensers. Method: A survey based study was conducted in which 40 pharmacies in various areas of Karachi including North Karachi, Nazimabad, Shahra-e-Faisal and Steel Town, were assessed with the help of closed-ended questionnaires. Key Findings: Out of the 40 pharmacies surveyed only 12 were found to have pharmacists working in the pharmacy, 27 counsel their customers about the medication, 14 of them do support the idea of dispensing drugs without prescription, and 29 of the dispensers in these pharmacies think that people are now becoming more aware about their medication. Of the 27 pharmacies that counsel their customers, only 7 provide information regarding adverse effects of the drug, 16 provide information about storage, 20 about how and when to use the drug, only 3 about precautions and 18 pharmacies where medical devices are available guide about how to use the medical devices. Conclusion: For good dispensing practice in a pharmacy, availability of a pharmacist in the pharmacy is a necessity. And to improve the quality of life of the patient effective and informative counseling is important. Pharmacies in Karachi lack these important factors and, therefore, there is an intensive need of improvements to be made in this field which can only be achieved by strict inspection of pharmacies and educating the pharmacists and dispensers regarding good dispensing practices. Keywords: Dispensing practice, pharmacist, counseling. INTRODUCTION The mission of the profession of pharmacy is to improve public health through ensuring safe, effective, and appropriate use of medications. The word pharmacy is derived from its root word Pharma which was a term used since the 15th–17th centuries. However, the original Greek roots from "Pharmakos" imply sorcery or even poison. Pharmacy is the science and technique of preparing as well as dispensing drugs and medicines. The scope of pharmacy practice includes more traditional roles such as compounding and dispensing medications, and it also includes more modern services related to health care including clinical services such as reviewing medications for safety and efficacy and providing drug information. Pharmacists are the experts on drug therapy and are the primary health professionals who optimize use of medication for the benefit of the patients. An establishment in which pharmacy is practiced is called a pharmacy, chemists or drugstore. [1] The Model State Pharmacy Act and Model Rules of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) define the practice of pharmacy as follows: The “Practice of Pharmacy” means the interpretation and implementation of medical orders the dispensing of prescription drug orders ,administration ,regimen review, participation in drug and device selection, the practice of telepharmacy within and across state lines, drug or drug-related research, the patient counseling the provision of those acts necessary to provide pharmacist care in all areas of patient care. The responsibility for compounding labeling of drugs (except labeling by a manufacturer, repackage, or distributor of Non-Prescription drugs and commercially packaged legend drugs and devices), proper storage of drugs maintenance of required records. The practice of pharmacy also includes continually optimizing patient safety and quality of services through effective use of emerging technologies and competency-based training. 2 Nature of Work The role of pharmacists as a healthcare practitioner was to check and distribute drugs to doctors for medication that had been prescribed to patients. Pharmacists advise patients and health care providers on the selection, dosages, interactions their side effects of medications. Pharmacists monitor the health of patients to ensure the safe and effective use of medication. Thus pharmacists have a significant role in assessing medication management in patients and in referring patients to physicians. These roles may include clinical medication management, including reviewing and monitoring of medication regimens, assessment of patients with undiagnosed / diagnosed conditions and clinical medication management needs. Other then these monitoring of disease states, such as in renal and hepatic failure ,compounding medicines as well as providing pharmaceutical information with health monitoring and advice. Supervising pharmacy technicians and other staff oversight of dispensing medicines on prescription 3. Types of pharmacy practice areas Pharmacists practice in a variety of areas including community pharmacies, hospitals, clinics, extended care facilities, psychiatric hospitals, and regulatory agencies. Pharmacists can specialize in various areas of practice including but not limited to hematology, ambulatory care, oncology, infectious diseases, nutrition support, drug information, critical care, pediatrics 1 , etc. Duties of pharmacist Professional knowledge that provide drug education to the patient can understand and use to benefit their therapy including: medication, indication, dosage, form, duration, route, side effects, precautions, interactions, missed dose procedures, storage recommendations and specific techniques for self monitoring.Discuss any therapeutic problems recognize compliance problems and increase adherence. Communication Skills Display effective verbal communication skills about use an interactive approach to assessing and verifying patient understanding through the use of open-ended questions and use language the patient will be able to understand. Patient Interaction Communicate to the patient why the counseling session information are important Systematically think through problems and present medication information in a logical order Display confidence and the ability to control and direct the counseling session Manage time during the session effectively 4-6 . METHOD To achieve the objective of investigating the dispensing practices being carried out in the pharmacies of Karachi, a survey was