title: The impact of a pilot continuing professional development module on hospital pharmacists' preparedness to provide contemporary advice on the clinical use of vancomycin.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Revised international clinical guidelines for the antibiotic vancomycin have changed the advice pharmacists need to provide to medical and nursing colleagues.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  (1) To determine the self-reported confidence of hospital pharmacists to provide contemporary advice on vancomycin and (2) to evaluate hospital pharmacists' knowledge to provide contemporary advice on vancomycin following a pilot continuing professional development (CPD) module.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was a prospective two-phase design in an Australian teaching hospital. Phase one: a survey of pharmacist self-reported confidence to eight questions on providing contemporary advice on vancomycin. Responses were recorded using a Likert scales. Phase two: The provision of a pilot online CPD module on vancomycin containing knowledge-based assessment based on a clinical vignette. Likert scales recorded self-reported confidence were reported as median and interquartile range (IQR). Knowledge assessment was reported using descriptive statistics. The main outcome measure were the self-reported confidence, and knowledge of pharmacists regarding provision of contemporary advice on clinical vancomycin use.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Response rates for surveys; confidence n = 35 (72.9 %) and knowledge n = 31 (58.5 %). Phase one: confidence was highest regarding vancomycin dosing and monitoring with 71.4-81.6 % of respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing that they were confident in these domains. Respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing were least confident regarding intravenous administration and infusion related reactions, 57.1 and 45.7 % respectively. Respondents who provided advice on vancomycin >10 times in the prior 12 months reported significantly higher confidence in; therapeutic range 1 (IQR 1-2) versus 2 (IQR 1-3) p = 0.02; amending dosage based on therapeutic drug monitoring results 2 (IQR 1-3) versus 3 (IQR 2-3) p = <0.001, and providing general advice to prescribers on vancomycin 2 (IQR 1-3) versus 2 (IQR 2-4) p = <0.009. Knowledge questions were answered correctly post CPD by >75 % of pharmacists.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pharmacists' self-reported confidence to managing vancomycin was variable but generally high. Knowledge scores were consistently high after pharmacists completed a pilot CPD module on vancomycin. These data provides impetus for a randomised controlled study across multiple sites to determine the extent to which pharmacist knowledge on vancomycin can be attributed to completion of an online CPD.
authors.affiliation: SA Pharmacy, Flinders Medical Centre, 1 Flinders Drive, Bedford Park, SA 5042 Australia ; School of Medicine, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA 5000 Australia ; School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5000 Australia.
authors.forename: Cameron J
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0801-3802
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.affiliation: SA Pharmacy, Flinders Medical Centre, 1 Flinders Drive, Bedford Park, SA 5042 Australia.
authors.forename: Alice J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Wisdom
authors.affiliation: SA Pharmacy, Flinders Medical Centre, 1 Flinders Drive, Bedford Park, SA 5042 Australia ; School of Medicine, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA 5000 Australia ; School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5000 Australia.
authors.forename: Vaughn S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Eaton
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA 5000 Australia ; Flinders Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA 5000 Australia.
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Woodman
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA 5000 Australia ; School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5000 Australia ; Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA 5000 Australia.
authors.forename: Ross A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: McKinnon
keywords: Antibiotic; Confidence; Continuing education; Continuing professional development; Knowledge; Vancomycin