Pharmacists reporting harassment or mistreatment cited "inadequate" staffing as a contributing factor in 93 percent of incidents, according to responses collected by the American Pharmacists Association and the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations.
The report is the third installment of the APhA's and NASPA's Pharmacy Workplace and Well-being Reporting, which has accumulated more than 1,100 anonymous reports from pharmacists in retail chains, hospitals, local pharmacies and specialty pharmacies.
A lack of employees could be the cause for harassment and threats reported to the confidential reporting service. Since the service launched in October, the pharmacy organizations have received 528 reports of threatened/actual physician harm and harassment, including verbal/emotional, sexual and discrimination.
The most recent 17 responses, collected between July 12 and Aug. 11, also found working conditions and workload expectations as main problems.
"As observed in the first two released reports, negative submissions from pharmacy staff dealing with threats and harassment from patients/consumers and/or work colleagues [...] continues to be concerning," the APhA and NASPA said in a Sept. 14 statement. "Additionally, work-related mental health problems are described in explicit detail, perhaps signaling a larger incidence of these cases that are underreported."
The first three reports can be found here, and the reporting service can be accessed here.