What does this research mean for the field?

Employers of early career pharmacists highly value non-technical skills such as communication, integrity, and reliability, with community settings prioritizing the ability to build trust and hospital settings prioritizing self-awareness and the ability to ask for help. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

This study aims to identify and compare the non-technical skills valued by Australian employers of early career pharmacists in community and hospital settings.

May 20, 2026

A mixed-methods investigation of the non-technical skills sought by employers of early career pharmacists in hospital and community practice settings

Key Points

This study aims to identify and compare the non-technical skills valued by Australian employers of early career pharmacists in community and hospital settings.
Mixed-methods approach with a cross-sectional online survey and qualitative interviews.
Survey included 57 respondents rating 21 non-technical skills on a five-point Likert scale.
Qualitative interviews with 19 participants explored perceptions of key non-technical skills.
Top-rated skills include effective communication, integrity, trust-building, reliability, and accountability.
Community pharmacists prioritized trust-building, while hospital pharmacists focused on self-awareness.
Respondents highlighted non-technical skills as equally important and transferable across settings, though context-specific.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To identify and compare the non-technical skills that Australian community and hospital pharmacist employers value in early career pharmacists. METHODS: A mixed-methods study combining a cross-sectional online survey and qualitative interviews to investigate the non-technical skills sought by Australian employers when hiring early career pharmacists in community or hospital settings. Pharmacist employers rated the importance of 21 non-technical skills on a five-point Likert scale; interviews explored perceptions regarding key non-technical skills in greater depth. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively, and qualitative data underwent thematic analysis using the Framework Method. KEY FINDINGS: Survey respondents (n = 57) rated effective communication skills, integrity, ability to build trust, reliability, and accountability highest. Community and hospital pharmacist subgroups rated ability to build trust and ask for help highest, respectively. Interview participants (n = 19) described the growing importance of non-technical skills in hiring decisions. Most non-technical skills were regarded as equally important and transferable across settings, though application was context specific. Themes relating to intra and interpersonal skills were evident. Key intrapersonal skills described included willingness to learn, problem-solving, and decision-making. Key interpersonal skills raised included communication and teamwork. Community employers expressed prioritizing the ability to build trust, while hospital employers focused on the importance of self-awareness. CONCLUSIONS: This study underscores the growing importance of non-technical skills for early career pharmacists, highlighting communication, teamwork, willingness to learn, problem-solving, accountability, reliability, and integrity as key. Subtle differences in priority non-technical skills were identified between community and hospital settings. These findings inform tailored educational strategies to better prepare graduates for the expectations of employers.

اسأل الذكاء الاصطناعي

Bookmark