P-176 Evaluation of hospice based experiential placements for foundation trainee pharmacists

Background To qualify as a pharmacist in the UK, a four-year Master of Pharmacy (MPharm) degree followed by a year of foundation training is completed. Experiential learning placements, where the trainees learn through reflection contribute to this training. Few universities offer experiential learning placements within hospices, and where they do, duration is very limited varying between 3 – 8 hours per week. Such placements have not previously been reported in foundation training. There is considerable breadth and depth of opportunities for pharmacists’ involvement in hospice care, specifically the ability to positively affect patient outcomes and become valued members of the multidisciplinary team. Aim(s) Provision and evaluation of an experiential learning placement at St Oswald’s Hospice, Newcastle for Foundation Trainee Pharmacists from Newcastle upon Tyne NHS Foundation Trust. Methods The evaluation was a questionnaire performed both before and after the placement, based upon trainees’ confidence in 16 aspects of patient care and medicines management pertinent to hospice pharmacy practice and based upon their governing body’s learning outcomes. Results Eight trainee pharmacists completed the placement and five performed the evaluation. Prior to the placement 60% of the trainees did not feel confident having discussions with patients with life-limiting illnesses reducing to 20% following placement completion. Only 40% of trainees understood the financial responsibilities of a pharmacist’s role before the placement compared to 80% after. When asked about how confident the trainees felt ensuring safe prescriptions for patients with compromised organ function, only 20% agreed prior to the placement increasing to 60% after. Conclusions The results show a logical trajectory prior to and following the Experiential-Learning-Trajectory. The understanding of hospice care is lacking in trainee pharmacists due to minimal hospice training. The Experiential-Learning-Trajectory helped improve the trainees’ confidence in understanding a pharmacists’ contribution to hospice care. Further placements and evaluation using higher levels of Moore’s Evaluation Framework is planned.