Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Assessment of awareness and satisfaction of online renewal of practising license among pharmacists in Nigeria

Ukamaka G Okafor¹ , Abubakar Ibrahim Jatau^2,3, Olukemi Alabi⁴, Elijah NA Mohammed⁵

¹Department of Education and Training, Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, Lagos, Nigeria; ²School of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of Tasmania, Tasmania, Australia; ³Department of Pharmacy Practice, Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, Head Office/Registry; ⁴Department of Inspection and Monitoring, Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, Head Office/Registry; ⁵Registrar’s Office, Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, Head Office/Registry, Abuja, Nigeria.

For correspondence:- Ukamaka Okafor Email: chinaemelum9291@yahoo.com Tel:+2348033253463

Accepted: 14 December 2020 Published: 31 January 2021

Citation: Okafor UG, Jatau AI, Alabi O, Mohammed EN. Assessment of awareness and satisfaction of online renewal of practising license among pharmacists in Nigeria. Trop J Pharm Res 2021; 20(1):169-175 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v20i1.24

© 2021 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To assess the awareness and satisfaction of online renewal of practice licence among pharmacists in Nigeria.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study among pharmacists in Nigeria. Participants were recruited through; online (via social media platforms) or in person at Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) office during application for renewal of license.

Results: A total of 878 participants completed the survey. Of this, 97.4 and 79.9 % were aware and satisfied with the online process, respectively. The respondents rated the process as excellent (19.1 %), fair (22.2 %), good (55.0 %) and poor (3.6 %). Most of the reported challenges included linking payment of association dues with license renewal, poor customer service and password retrieval.

Conclusions: The level of awareness and satisfaction of the online renewal of annual licence among pharmacists in Nigeria is high. Measures are still needed to improve the online application process.

Keywords: Pharmacists Council, Online, Licence, Pharmacist, Practice