Assessing the facilitators and challenges to knowledge sharing in a hospital pharmacy environment: A case study
Department of Pharmacy, Oshakati Intermediate Hospital, Ministry of Health and Social Services, Oshana Region Directorate, Namibia.
Research Article
GSC Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2024, 27(03), 015–024.
Article DOI: 10.30574/gscbps.2024.27.3.0216
Publication history:
Received on 16 April 2024; revised on 31 May 2024; accepted on 03 June 2024
Abstract:
Background: Any hindrance to knowledge management negatively impacts workflow efficiency and the quality of pharmaceutical care, which relies heavily on knowledge sharing. Failure to provide quality pharmaceutical services, which resultantly breeds patient dissatisfaction, can harm the reputation of the pharmacy staff or even the entire hospital. Understanding barriers to knowledge-sharing, and therefore how to tackle them, is critical to improving the quality of pharmaceutical care.
Methods: A structured questionnaire was administered to 26 participants, including pharmacists, pharmacist interns, and pharmacist assistants, to extract enablers and barriers to knowledge-sharing in a hospital pharmacy environment.
Results: The study revealed knowledge-sharing facilitators and barriers at Oshakati Hospital pharmacy, most of which are in the literature, and some unique to this setting. The facilitators and barriers can be classified as organizational, individual, or technological.
Conclusion: Revealing knowledge-sharing enablers and barriers is important to enhance the knowledge-sharing process, which in turn impacts decision-making and pharmaceutical care standards. Therefore, tackling hindrances to knowledge-sharing is beneficial to patient care and well-being.
Keywords:
Knowledge management; Knowledge sharing; Healthcare; Pharmacy; Namibia; technology; Pharmaceutical care
Full text article in PDF:
Copyright information:
Copyright © 2024 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0
