TASK-ANALYSIS OF AIR-FORCE PHARMACY PRACTICE

The frequency with which United States Air Force pharmacists perform s pecific professional tasks and the pharmacists' views as to the import ance of those tasks were studied. A questionnaire was prepared that as ked recipients-to rate each of 36 tasks selected as representing the s pectrum of practice activities. There were four categories of tasks: m anagerial tasks, dispensing tasks, drug information tasks, and patient care tasks. Recipients rated the tasks with respect to frequency of p erformance and importance on separate 6-point scales. The questionnair e was mailed in May 1991 to the 225 pharmacists then serving in the Ai r Force worldwide. Of the 225 questionnaires, 150 usable questionnaire s were returned (response rate, 67%). All the tasks in the survey were performed by at least one Air Force pharmacy officer, although the fr equency of task performance varied. In particular, the frequency of ma ny patient care tasks was low. All the tasks were perceived to have so me importance, but drug information tasks were rated as being signific antly more important than tasks in the other categories; patient care tasks were rated lowest in importance. The results varied with the res pondents' demographic characteristics. Pharmacy officers with more yea rs of service, more senior positions, higher rank, or an advanced degr ee in a field other than pharmacy tended to give responses that diverg ed from those of the population. A 1991 survey showed an awareness amo ng Air Force pharmacists of the need to orient practice around patient care; however, they were not spending substantial time on patient car e and tended to view it as less important than more traditional pharma cy tasks.