Perception and satisfaction of pharmacists roles and services provided in University of Nigeria Nsukka

BackgroundPharmacists are drug specialists in the society. The roles of pharmacists have extended beyond the typical product-oriented duties of dispensing, delivering medication and medical supplies to more patient-centered care. Patient satisfaction is a key indicator for healthcare quality and a metric to identify aspects that need improvement. ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to evaluate the public perception of pharmacists roles and satisfaction with the services they provide. MethodUsing a self-administered questionnaire, a cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted, data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. Out of the 600 distributed questionnaire, 592 completed questionnaires were retrieved. ResultsMajority of the respondents were between the ages 18 and 30 years (88.5%) and had secondary school education as their highest level of educational qualification (73.6%). Higher proportion of the female respondents had a positive perception (72.4%). Also, they had higher satisfaction from the services (72.5%). Educational qualification (p=0.001), gender (p= 0.027), age (p= 0.006) and employment (p< 0.001) were significantly associated with the level of satisfaction from the services provided by pharmacists. ConclusionA good proportion of the members of the University community had a positive perception of the duties of pharmacists and were moderately satisfied with the services they provide. Steps should be taken to increase the amount and quality of time pharmacists spend with each patient.