Factors influencing pharmacy technicians' perceptions and choice of work setting

Abstract

In recent years, hospital pharmacies have struggled to fill vacant technician positions. The current study investigated factors influencing pharmacy technician students’ perceptions and choice of work setting via a mixed-methods design. Surveys were administered to pharmacy technician students across Canada (N = 221, M = 28.56 years, SD = 8.52) and one focus group was conducted with six hospital pharmacy technicians working with the Horizon Health Network. Analysis of the survey found that group differences in program year, knowledge about hospital pharmacy, and expected hospital job satisfaction emerged between students pursuing community and hospital pharmacy. However, logistic regressions failed to yield a significant model. Thematic analysis of the focus groups identified four major themes organized in temporal (past, present and future) order: (a) Education, (b) Intrinsic Job Factors, (c) Extrinsic Job Factors and (d) Transitions. Overall, the results suggest that there are actionable factors hospitals and educators alike can capitalize on to increase recruitment and retention of hospital pharmacy technicians.