The study was aimed to explore patient safety culture of community pharmacists working in Dessie and Gondar towns, Northern Ethiopia. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted from 1 st to 31 st March 2018. In this cross-sectional survey, the Pharmacy Survey on Patient Safety Culture (PSOPSC), developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), was used to collect data. PSOPSC is a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed among staffs who work in community pharmacies of Dessie and Gondar towns. All staffs available on data collection period in the pharmacy were included. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software version 25 was used to enter and analyze the data. Results A total of 120 participants were approached and completed the questionnaire. Results from the study showed that high positive response rate was demonstrated in the domains of "Teamwork" (90.2%) followed by physical space and environment (83.1%). On the other hand, the result also identified that there is an enormous problem related to mistake communication (44.8%) and work pressure (45%). In addition, significant difference of percent positive responses were obtained across towns and staff working hours.

Background. Cancer-related pain (CRP) is a major problem with a potential negative impact on quality of life of the patients and their caregivers. Purpose. To assess the adequacy of cancer-related pain management in Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital (ACSH). Methodology. A facility-based cross-sectional study design was conducted in ACSH from January to March 2019. A well-structured professional-assisted questionnaire using Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form (BPI-SF) was used to collect data concerning the severity of pain, functioning interference, and adequacy of pain management in cancer patients. Data were analyzed using SPSS v.21. Result. Out of 91 participants, 47 (51.6%) were male and 52 (57.1%) were between the age group of 18–45, with the mean age of 44.8 ± 13.6 years. According to the pain assessment tool (BPI), 85 (93.4%) patients experienced pain and 90 (98.9%) patients had activity interference; negative pain management index (PMI) was observed in 40 (43.95%) patients, showing that 43.95% were receiving inadequate pain management. Out of 38 patients who received no analgesics, 35.2% were found to have inadequate pain management, whereas those who took strong opioids had 100% effective pain management and the majority of the patients were in stage III. Among 38 (41.76%) only 20 (52.63%) received adequate pain management, based on patients’ self-report in which 18.7% of the participants stated that they got 30% pain relief and only 1.1% got 90% relief. The predictors of undertreatment were presence of severe pain, metastasis, comorbidity, and stage of the cancer and could also be due to the educational level and monthly income, as evidenced by significant association. Conclusion. This study suggests that cancer pain management in ACSH was sufficient for only 56%. However, large numbers of individuals are suffering from a manageable pain. Hence, remedial action should be taken, including increasing awareness of symptom management in medical staff and incorporating existing knowledge into routine clinical practice.

Background. The developing organism is unique in its responsiveness to drugs and predictability of therapeutic effectiveness based on the adult which can lead to grave consequences in the neonate and child. Moreover, uncertainty about the risks of drug use in pregnancy could result in restrictive attitudes towards prescribing and dispensing medicines and their use. Pharmacists have huge duties to improve medication use, especially among pregnant women. The objective of this study is, hence, to assess the knowledge and practice of pharmacy professionals (PPs) towards the risk of medication use during pregnancy. Methodology. A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was carried out over practicing community and hospital pharmacy professionals in Dessie town. They were asked about the safety of common drugs during pregnancy. It involves both prescription-only medications (POM) and over-the-counter (OTC) medications. Secondly, they were asked about their practice towards the risk of medication use during pregnancy. Both descriptive and analytical statistics were utilized. For descriptive analysis, results were expressed as numbers, percentages, and mean (± SD and 95% CI). Result. Seventy-six pharmacy professionals in Dessie, Northeast Ethiopia, took part in the study. Most of the respondents (64.5%) believed that amoxicillin is safe in all trimesters. 26 (34.2%) of participants knew that isotretinoin is unsafe for use by pregnant women. About dietary supplements, 32.9% of PPs reported that Vitamin A supplements are safe in all trimesters. There was a significant difference observed for study college and years of experience of the PPs in their score of knowledge test (p=0.020 and p=0.024, respectively). Additionally, there was a difference seen for gender (p=0.030), study college (p=0.036), and working institution (p=0.013) in their advice to pregnant women. Conclusion and Recommendation. Overall, PPs exhibited very low knowledge about drug safety during pregnancy. The absence of obligatory continuing pharmacy education for pharmacists is expected to have negatively affected the level of medication knowledge and consequently the pharmaceutical care services delivered in community and hospital pharmacies. As medication knowledge of PPs is poor, a multitude of strategies (educational, economic, managerial, and regulatory) should be designed by the government, universities, and pharmaceutical associations to improve the pharmacy professionals’ role in the healthcare system by providing them with continuous and up-to-date medication knowledge.

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Introduction. Clerodendrum myricoides (Lamiaceae) has been traditionally used for the treatment of various ailments, including body swelling and urine retention. The present study aimed to evaluate the diuretic activity of a crude extract and solvent fractions of the root bark of C. myricoides. Methodology. The coarsely powdered root bark of C. myricoides was extracted by a cold maceration method using 80% methanol. A portion of the extract was fractionated based on the polarity index of solvents to obtain chloroform, ethyl acetate, and aqueous fractions. To investigate the diuretic activity of the plant, rats were divided into fifteen groups. The normal control groups received either water or 2% tween 80, the standard group received furosemide (10 mg/kg), and the test groups were administered the hydromethanolic extract and solvent fractions at the doses of 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg by the oral route. The urine volume, urine pH, urine, and serum electrolytes were determined and compared with the standard and normal control groups. Results. The crude hydromethanolic extract, ethyl acetate, and chloroform fractions induced significant diuresis at a dose of 400 mg/kg ( P < 0.001 ) compared to the aqueous fraction. The hydromethanolic extract at 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg also caused noticeable diuresis ( P < 0.001 ) compared to the standard, furosemide. Rats treated with hydromethanolic extract, ethyl acetate, and chloroform fractions showed delayed onset and prolonged diuresis in a dose-dependent fashion compared to the aqueous fraction ( P < 0.05 ). The hydromethanolic extract and solvent fractions produced the highest saliuretic and natriuretic index compared to the standard, furosemide. The crude hydromethanolic extract also failed to produce any sign of toxicity up to 2000 mg/kg. Conclusion. From this study, the hydromethanolic extract and ethyl acetate fraction of the root bark of C. myricoides produced a prominent diuretic effect in rats.