(1357) “to Quit or Not to Quit: The Impact of COVID-19 on Community Pharmacist Retention and Turnover: Insights from the National Pharmacy Workforce Survey”

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic exerted unprecedented pressure on the healthcare system and posed unique challenges to pharmacists. Community pharmacists saw their roles expand as they became a critical point of patient care including vaccine distribution and on-site COVID testing. No known studies have examined why community pharmacists are staying or leaving their jobs 3 years after the start of COVID-19. The overall purpose of this study is to examine the frequency of reasons community pharmacists provided related to their plans to remain at or leave their current job.

Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional, survey research design was used to collect data from a random sample of 93,990 US licensed pharmacists. The study team developed an online survey questionnaire designed to assess the impacts of COVID on pharmacists’ work and work life adopting survey items used in previous pharmacist workforce surveys and developing survey items from four focus groups of practicing pharmacists. The survey items used for this study were related to current community pharmacy work setting, whether pharmacists planned to leave or stay at their job, and open-ended responses to a question about why they planned to stay at or leave their current job. Sample members were sent an initial email contact and three follow-up email contacts each containing a link to the online survey between November and December 2022. A total of 4,084 usable responses were received and the analysis used a sub-sample of 2,007 respondents reporting they were practicing in a community pharmacy work setting. Using the framework from Gaither CA, et al (J Am Pharm Assoc, 2007, Mar-Apr; 47(2): 165-73) the responses were coded based on individual factors, organizational factors, and cultural/climate factors. They were further divided into 14 sub-themes that were determined by the research team.

Results: Across the community settings, the intention to leave current work was rated lower by independent and small chain practicing pharmacists and rated higher by large chain, mass merchandiser, and supermarket practicing pharmacists. Overall, out of the 2,007 community pharmacy respondents, 1,102 chose to provide an answer to the question “How likely is it that you will actually leave your current employment within the next year?”. Out of those 1,102 respondents, 774 supplied open-ended responses as to why. Overall, 457 (22.8%) stated they were planning to stay at their current practice setting and provided a reason why, while 317 (15.8%) respondents indicated they planned to leave their job within the next year and specified reasons why. Common reasons for staying were financial (7% of 457 responses) and overall job satisfaction (5.9% of 457 responses). Least common reasons were workload (0.2% of 457) and COVID policies/mandates (0.1% of 457). Common reasons for leaving were working conditions (4% of 317 responses) and financial (3% of 317 responses) Least common reasons were political misinformation (0.2% of 317) and COVID policies/mandates (0.1% of 317).

Conclusions: This study is the first known one to examine the reasons why community pharmacists’ were staying or leaving their jobs 3 years after the start of COVID-19. As part of a larger National Pharmacy Workforce study, it has elucidated the critical need for pharmacy leaders to step up and help address the underlying issues that contribute to pharmacist turnover. Nevertheless, based on the responses, there are employers that have implemented strategies to retain their pharmacy workforce. From providing ways to maintain a work-life balance, encouraging a team environment, and ensuring proper compensation, these strategies are retaining skilled pharmacists within the community pharmacy sector. Plans for future studies include differentiating responses for staying or leaving into different types of community settings, as well as highlighting the responses from newer pharmacists.