A qualitative Assessment of Practice Experiences of Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) pharmacists in Saskatchewan

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: Pharmacists are a rapidly growing segment of certified diabetes educators (CDEs) in Canada; however, little is known about their practice experiences. Objective: This study aimed to describe the practice experiences of CDE pharmacists and the impact of the CDE designation. Methods: A qualitative research approach was used. A purposive sample of 14 CDE pharmacists in Saskatchewan was selected to obtain data by means of in-depth semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using thematic analysis and NVivo10 software. Findings: Four themes emerged from the data: (1) CDE pharmacists engage in a multitude of diabetes-related activities, (2) becoming a CDE has been beneficial, (3) certain challenges still exist when trying to provide diabetes-related education, and (4) strategies were proposed to try and overcome these challenges. CDE pharmacists are engaging in both broad and focused diabetes management, such as insulin starts and adjustments. Pharmacists are satisfied that the CDE designation has helped achieve some of their goals and have benefited from improved relationships with other health care professionals. Although some solutions were offered, CDE pharmacists still face challenges in putting their knowledge to full use with respect to devoting time to diabetes management and remuneration for providing diabetes services. Conclusions: CDE pharmacists in Saskatchewan report enhanced diabetes-related activities prior to becoming a CDE and that designation has had a positive impact on them and perhaps their patients. This information could prove useful to employers and payers as the number of CDE pharmacists continues to increase. However, more information is necessary to describe CDE pharmacist practice experiences across Canada.