IPA should strive to have organizational leadership and committee representation which reflects the diversity of the profession in Iowa. Employee pharmacists, however, must step forward to take the initiative as key players in giving direction and leadership to the profession. Organizational involvement is often directly related to personal prioritization of activities, and employee pharmacists should be strongly encouraged to assume those important roles. Accordingly, the employers of those pharmacists, the hospitals and chain settings, should facilitate their involvement and provide assistance to allow their pharmacists to serve on association committees and in leadership roles. The current workplace environment within pharmacies presents many challenges from a multitude of sources.
Problems definitely exist.
The profession needs to take action to ensure that these problems do not rise to the point of jeopardizing public safety and professional integrity. While the Task Force readily recognizes that problems exist, it also recognizes that many of these problems have not been fully described. To that end, the Task Force recommends that IPA monitor these pharmacy practice and workplace life issues as they relate to pharmacists in Iowa. In doing so, determine the significance of the problems locally compared to nationally, and identify types of practice settings that may be more vulnerable than others. This information might then be shared with pharmacy management in some joint forum to address and discuss the identified workplace issues.