Recognizing Pharmacy Technicians. Expanding Scope of Practice. Refining the SPT program.
Dear Pharmacy Technician team members,
It’s becoming increasingly obvious that…
1) Pharmacy teams thrive when there is a pharmacy technician on the team and
2) The pharmacy technician is practicing to their full scope
Alberta Pharmacy technicians are an invaluable asset to pharmacy teams province-wide and provide great benefit to the health of Albertans. From technical checking prescriptions, device teaching, compounding medications both sterile and non-sterile, to clinically deployed BPMH work in the hospital- Pharmacy teams wouldn’t be the same without you. Now I believe it is more important than ever to remind health care teams of the important role you play in our health care system and to also remind the regulatory body what else you are capable of with an expanded scope of practice. Several provinces now have pharmacy technicians administering immunizations and Alberta has not implemented this yet. I sit on the Program Advisory Committee for the technician program at the Medicine Hat College, and it has recently come to my attention that the Canadian Council for Accreditation of Pharmacy Programs has mandated that injection training be integrated into program curriculum country-wide. So with that in mind- we know that pharmacy technician students are already learning this skill, why not put it to use in Alberta practice? Expanding the pharmacy technician scope to administer injections will open up another avenue for leadership development and greatly assist patients and pharmacy workflows alike, especially during the flu immunization season.
In addition to this, I recently learned of the redesigned technician SPT program and have heard several concerns about it from teams across the province. The main concern being the two additional practical experiences that must be at two different practice sites and both be a minimum of 240 hours each, specifically taking place after completion of a technician program. I don’t disagree with more practical training and can appreciate the SPT program aiming to better align with the NAPRA 2024 Professional Competencies- but having the training after completion of a pharmacy technician program is proving to be quite difficult for both employers and technicians alike- especially in rural areas where recruiting staff is difficult. Young professionals who just graduated from their program are having difficulty finding these additional practical sites/preceptors and employers will not hire until they are fully licensed- all the while life does not stop for these professionals and they have bills to pay and mouths to feed. I believe the SPT program can be further refined to have the best of both worlds of enhanced training while supporting young professionals early in their career.
I am asking pharmacy technicians province-wide for your vote for ACP Councillor so that I can address these concerns directly.
How to vote:
Login to myACP using the link or scan the QR code: https://myacp.abpharmacy.ca/
Council election -> Vote Now
Thank you for reading. I would appreciate your vote and would be honoured to represent you on the ACP council.
Ethan Swanson
ACP Pharmacist Councillor 5 Candidate
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