jrnls.org logo
Submit

BROWSE ALL JOURNALS

SEE ALL 19 JOURNALS
Journal of Young PharmacistsNOW IN
Article

Evaluating the Awareness of Hospital Pharmacists towards Hospital Pharmacy Services during Pandemic Readiness: A Cross-Sectional Study

Mohammed S. Alshammari1★★ Corresponding author

  1. 1Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, University of Hafr Al Batin, Hafr Al Batin, SAUDI ARABIA.

CORRESPONDENCE

Mohammed S. Alshammari

Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, University of Hafr Al Batin, Hafr Al Batin-39524, SAUDI ARABIA.

moalshammari@uhb.edu.sa

Received: 23-01-2026; Revised: 04-03-2026; Accepted: 18-05-2026.

Volume 18, Issue 2 · pp. 509–515 · PUBLISHED Apr-Jun 2026 · DOI: 10.5530/jyp.20260421

View on JYP original site ↗

ABSTRACT

Background Hospital pharmacists have an essential role to play in maintaining continuity of care, medication safety, and medicine chain management, especially under public health challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic further emphasized preparedness and inclusion within hospital frameworks. Objectives The primary objective of the present study is to examine the level of awareness and preparedness of hospital pharmacists working in Saudi Arabia, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to explore the association between the level of awareness and some socio-demographic factors. Materials and Methods A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on 202 pharmacists in different hospitals in Saudi Arabia. A self-administered, pre-validated questionnaire with four domains was used. Results Most respondents had high awareness in integration with institutional planning, at 69.3%, followed by public and professional education and training, at 54.5%, and departmental leadership, at 53.5%. Lower awareness was expressed in the medications and supplies domain, at 45.5%. Strong positive correlations were found among all questionnaire domains. Multivariable analysis disclosed that work location, years of experience, age, and qualification were significant predictors for awareness. Conclusion In general, awareness of pandemic preparedness among hospital pharmacists in Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic was good. However, certain areas need more attention, including medication and supply preparedness, which must be effectively carried out by policies even in non-central hospitals.

KEYWORDS

0% READ

FULL TEXT

INTRODUCTION

The pandemic caused by Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) proved crucial in emphasizing the importance of preparedness in hospitals and the role of pharmacy service in hospitals in the management of public health emergencies, as it affects not only the general public but also healthcare personnel (Alsharyah et al., 2024). Hospital-level preparedness requires coordinated plans for surge capacity, infection prevention and control, and uninterrupted access to essential medicines components, in which the pharmacy department plays a pivotal operational and clinical role (Singh et al., 2025).

The pharmacists working in the hospitals played a role through a varying range of activities and tasks, and this included provision of medication distribution chain compliance, provision of therapeutic stewardship, reliable medication policies, and provision involving high-risk medications disposition, and pharmacists working in critical areas, telepharmacy and education delivery (Chiu et al., 2022; Ibrahim et al., 2022). All this showed there was a new demand on pharmacists’ clinical decision-making capacity and logistics and interprofessional delivery, and this demanded a new arrangement of tasks and jobs among pharmacists.

Despite recognition of these roles, there was heterogeneity in how hospital pharmacists perceived their preparedness and how services were actually delivered during the pandemic. Cross-sectional surveys and descriptive reports from various health systems documented variable levels of knowledge, access to protocols, availability of PPE, engagement in clinical decision-making, and the capacity to deliver remote or continuity services-lacuna that may have directly impacted patient safety, medication adherence, and system resilience (Salve et al., 2023; Singh, 2025). It is thus important to assess actual practice rather than attitude only to identify operational bottlenecks, training needs, and policy changes that need attention to strengthen future pandemic readiness.

Until date, there is a scarcity of studies that critically examine hospital pharmacists’ practices in relation to pandemic readiness using a scientific research methodology. Hence, the purpose of this current research was to assess the practice of hospital pharmacists in relation to providing hospital pharmacy practice services during pandemic readiness by adopting a process of assessing a practice domain.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Study Design and Setting

The descriptive cross-sectional study design was utilized in evaluating the practice of hospital pharmacist services in preparing for a pandemic in Saudi Arabia and assessing their preparedness regarding the challenges faced in the COVID-19.

Study Population

The population for this study was hospital pharmacists practicing in hospitals providing secondary and tertiary care across the State of Saudi Arabia.

Questionnaire Development

The study instrument adopted was a structured questionnaire devised after an in-depth perusal of the literature in addition to relevant guidelines on the preparedness and pandemic response of hospital pharmacy globally (Ahmad Suleiman et al., 2022; Alkhudaydi et al., 2024; Isleem et al., 2023; Schumacher et al., 2022). Among other elements, the study questionnaire comprised four domains, each aimed at comprehensively assessing pharmacists’ practice and preparedness in pandemic response. Among them included being integrated in institution planning (Part 1), being integrated in departmental leadership (Part 2), public and professional educational interventions (Part 3), as well as medications and supplies management (Part 4) in pandemic response. Mostly, it adopted closed-ended questions in addition to Likert scales.

Content Validation and reliability

The content validity of the instrument was confirmed through expert review by senior hospital pharmacists with experience in hospital pharmacy practice and by expert researchers in public health readiness planning. A review of the instrument for clarity, appropriateness, and completeness was conducted, with the required changes made according to the recommendations provided by the expert team that reviewed it.

Data Analysis

The analysis was carried out using R software, version 3.5.2. Descriptive analysis was performed for percentages. Inferential statistics was used to check the associations between variables.

RESULTS

Sociodemographic of the participants

The sample consisted of 202 hospital pharmacists. Most respondents were male (77.7%) and aged 25-34 years (49.0%), followed by 35-44 years (39.1%). Most respondents were Saudi nationals (94.1%). Qualification-wise, 39.1% had a bachelor’s degree, 39.1% had a diploma, while 19.9% had postgraduate qualifications. Most participants in this study were non-managers (71.8%). The largest professional groups were the hospital pharmacists with 43.1% and pharmacy technicians with 40.6%. Participants were mostly working in governmental hospitals (91.1%), mainly in public or central hospitals at 40.1% and 34.2%, respectively. The results are explained in Table 1.

Table 1: Basic socio-demographic characteristics of study population.
VariablesN (%)
Gender
Female4 (20.3)
male157 (77.7)
Age (years)
< 25 years13 (6.4)
25 - 34 years99 (49.0)
35 - 44 years79 (39.1)
45 - 55 years7 (3.5)
Nationality
Non-Saudi8 (5.9)
Saudi190 (94.1)
Qualification
Bachelor79 (39.1)
Diploma79 (39.1)
Master30 (14.9)
Doctorate10 (5.0)
Managers/supervisor
No145 (71.8)
Yes53 (26.2)
Job title
Clinical Pharmacist29 (14.4)
Hospital Pharmacist87 (43.1)
Pharmacy Technician82 (40.6)
Work location
Central Hospital69 (34.2)
Primary Health Care Center29 (14.4)
Public Hospital81 (40.1)
Secondary Hospital4 (2.0)
Tertiary Specialist Hospital15 (7.4)
Type of hospital
Governmental184 (91.1)
Private14 (6.9)
Region
Central Area88 (43.6)
Eastern Area58 (28.7)
Northern Area22 (10.9)
Southern Area3 (1.5)
Western Area27 (13.4)
Years of experience
0 - 3 years47 (23.3)
3 -6 years40 (19.8)
6 -10 years49 (24.3)
10 years or more62 (30.7)

Inter-domain Correlations of Hospital Pharmacy Practice and Pandemic Readiness Scores

In Figure 1, Spearman’s correlation analysis indicated that all domains were strongly positively correlated. Integration with institutional planning, domain Part 1, correlated strongly with domain Part 2 (departmental leadership), Part 3 (public and professional education and training), and Part 4 (medications and supplies).

Figure 1: Correlation - Spearman (r) coefficient between questionnaire parts and mean percent scores.

Awareness Levels of Hospital Pharmacists across Pandemic Readiness Domains

Likewise, in assessing the level of awareness of each domain, it was established that most of the hospital pharmacists recorded high in integration with institutional planning (69.3%), then in public and professional education and training (54.5%), with departmental leadership ranking next with 53.5%. Conversely, less than half of respondents reported high in medications and supplies, with an interesting 45.5%. On another note, significant variation in awareness levels within the four domains was established with a significance of p<0.001. The results are explained in Table 2.

Table 2: Assessment of awareness of the hospital pharmacists towards pandemic readiness.
ScoresIntegration with institutional planningDepartmental leadershipPublic and professional education and trainingMedications and suppliesp-value
High score140 (69.3%)108 (53.5%)110 (54.5%)92 (45.5%)<0.001
Moderate score22 (10.9%)36 (17.8%)27 (13.4%)45 (22.3%)
Low score40 (19.8%)58 (28.7%)65 (32.2%)65 (32.2%)

Factors Associated with Awareness of Pandemic Readiness Among Hospital Pharmacists (Univariate logistic regression)

Results for these tests are shown in Table 3. In the univariate regression analysis, pharmacists with a doctoral degree compared with those with a bachelor's degree had a lower awareness level concerning readiness for pandemics, where OR was 0.20, 95%/CI 0.04, 0.85, p-value 0.028. In addition, pharmacists from primary care centers, when compared with those from central hospitals, had lower odds for being aware of readiness, where OR was 0.12, 95%/CI 0.04, 0.35, p-value <0.001. Furthermore, pharmacists from secondary hospitals compared with those from central hospitals showed lower odds for being aware of readiness for pandemics, where OR was 0.05, 95%/CI 0.00, 0.43, p-value 0.013. The results are explained in Table 3.

Table 3: Univariate logistic regression for the association between socio-demographic characteristics of the study population and the awareness level.
Socio-demographic dataOR (95%CI)p value
Gender
Female-
Male0.75 (0.28-1.78)0.535
Age
< 25-
25-341.01 (0.21-3.67)0.994
35-441.20 (0.25-4.57)0.801
45-550.30 (0.03-2.35)0.251
Nationality
Non-Saudi-
Saudi2.68 (0.51-12.66)0.211
Qualification
Bachelor-
Diploma0.74 (0.33-1.62)0.449
Doctorate0.20 (0.04-0.85)0.028
Master1.92 (0.56-8.88)0.341
Manager /Supervisor
No-
Yes0.95 (0.44-2.16)0.897
Job title
Clinical Pharmacist-
Hospital Pharmacist1.73 (0.58-4.83)0.304
Pharmacy Technician1.28 (0.44-3.50)0.637
Work location
Central Hospital-
Primary Health Care Center0.12 (0.04-0.35)<0.001
Public Hospital0.64 (0.24-1.63)0.356
Secondary Hospital0.05 (0.00-0.43)0.013
Tertiary/Specialist Hospital0.80 (0.17-5.77)0.795
Type of hospital
Governmental-
Private0.38 (0.11-1.35)0.116
Region
Central Area-
Eastern Area0.68 (0.29-1.60)0.373
Northern Area0.43 (0.14-1.41)0.147
Southern Area0.11 (0.00-1.20)0.077
Western Area0.73 (0.24-2.52)0.596
Years of experience
0-3 years-
10 years or more2.27 (0.92-5.78)0.078
3-6 years3.22 (1.08-11.02)0.044
6-10 years2.16 (0.83-5.86)0.118

Factors Associated with Awareness of Pandemic Readiness Among Hospital Pharmacists (Multivariate logistic regression)

In the multiple regression analysis, it was found that pharmacists aged between 45 and 55 had significantly lower odds of showing high levels of awareness compared with those below the age of 25 (AOR=0.00, 95% CI=0.00-0.20; p=0.007). Also, those with a doctoral degree qualification had significantly lower levels of awareness (AOR=0.02, 95% CI=0.00-0.29; p=0.006). Pharmacist work locations in primary care centers had independent associations with lower levels of knowledge awareness compared with those in central hospitals (AOR=0.02, 95% CI=0.00-0.10; p<0.001). Other socio-demographic variables, including gender, nationality, job title, hospital type, and region, were not significantly associated with awareness levels after adjustment. The results are explained in Table 4.

Table 4: Multivariate logistic regression for the association between socio-demographic characteristics of the study population and the awareness level.
Socio-demographic dataAOR (95%CI)p value
Age
< 25-
25-340.38 (0.04-2.59)0.347
35-440.30 (0.02-3.68)0.36
45-550.00 (0.00-0.20)0.007
Qualification
Bachelor-
Diploma0.66 (0.02-11.78)0.792
Doctorate0.02 (0.00-0.29)0.006
Master2.96 (0.37-40.77)0.355
Work location
Central Hospital-
Primary Health Care Center0.02 (0.00-0.10)<0.001
Public Hospital0.40 (0.09-1.63)0.218
Secondary Hospital0.01 (0.00-0.14)0.005
Tertiary/Specialist Hospital0.37 (0.02-17.30)0.536
Years of experience
0-3 years-
10 years or more20.90 (2.63-212.22)0.006
3-6 years7.49 (1.41-58.22)0.03
6-10 years1.80 (0.41-7.91)0.433

DISCUSSION

This is the first comprehensive study that assesses the awareness and preparedness of Saudi Arabian hospital pharmacists for pandemic readiness and points out important variations based on institutional, professional, and experiential factors. On the whole, the results reflect a generally good state of awareness, especially in domains concerning integration with institutional planning and departmental leadership. Nevertheless, significant deficiencies were observed in areas related to medications and supplies as well as public and professional education.

One of this research's important findings is that there is a strong positive correlation between all the different questions' domains. This would all be congruent with a systems-level preparedness perspective that recognizes that a strong response to pandemics requires good governance, strong leadership, trained personnel, and a strong supply chain, but does so in a more comprehensive manner than would be evident through single-factor-based interventions (Gautier et al., 2023; Villacis et al., 2025).

The awareness test revealed considerable variance between domains. Where almost 70% of pharmacists had shown a high level of performance in terms of integration with institutional planning, less than half had shown similar performance in medications and supplies management. Such differences are of particular concern, especially because medication availability, alleviation of medication shortages, and inventory management are key aspects of the services provided by healthcare institutions during a health emergency situation. In a matter of fact, the same phenomenon was observed by various studies conducted across China, and the Middle East on the COVID-19 health emergency, where there was a lack of proper availability of medicines with pharmacists, unprecedented disruptions were experienced by the supply chain, and a lack of efficient strategies to handle the emergency stocks were also observed (Elden et al., 2023; Zoubir and Tran, 2022).

On another level, as shown in the foregoing figures, regression analysis also indicated that awareness of pandemic preparedness in China was significantly associated with work settings and professional working experiences (Xu et al., 2020). Pharmacists working in primary care centers and secondary hospitals had significantly lower odds of higher awareness of pandemic preparedness compared to those working in central hospitals (Bahlol and Dewey, 2021; Basheti et al., 2021). This could probably be ascribed to differences in terms of accessibility of resources, professional development, and direct involvement in working on emergency plans in different working settings, since central hospitals play more central roles in terms of coordination in emergency response compared to others in China.

Years of experience were identified as one of the strongest predictors of awareness. These results coincide with those obtained from previous epidemics such as SARS and MERS; experience was a positive determinant for preparedness, confidence, and decision-making potential among health care practitioners (Haridi et al., 2018; Hong et al., 2022).

Interestingly, an important side effect of the study was the inverse correlation between doctoral qualifications and the level of awareness. It may have been due to an understanding of their role differences instead of their lack of understanding, as pharmacists holding doctoral qualifications in Saudi Arabian hospitals are less likely to work in hospitals providing front-end pharmacy services due to their other predominant roles in academia, research, and management. Similar observations have also been reported in other studies conducted on pharmacists’ preparedness in relation to their frontline work in relation to COVID-19, as described in Visacri et al., (2021).

Yet another key factor revealed was age, with pharmacists between 45 and 55 years old being associated with lower adjusted odds for high levels of awareness. The rapid shift towards more and more digitization of services, including telepharmacy and electronic inventory management, because of COVID-19, may have been more impactful for younger or mid-career-aged pharmacists, as also revealed by studies conducted internationally (Poudel and Nissen, 2016).

Importantly, gender, nationality, job title, type of hospital, and regions did not independently influence preparedness after adjustment. This implies that preparedness is more influenced by experiential factors than demographic factors. These observations affirm the necessity for equitable training, preparedness protocols, and emergency planning in all hospital types at various levels, as advocated by various international entities (Kreisberg et al., 2016; Organization, 2020).

While the integration of pharmacists into planning structures was clear, there were indications of significant challenges with respect to medicine supply preparedness and unequal familiarity with aspects of preparedness across different categories of hospitals.

CONCLUSION

The study revealed that the levels of awareness displayed by hospital pharmacists in Saudi Arabia about pandemic preparedness in general and their integration with different planning processes within the institutions and various forms of leadership in different departments during the COVID-19 pandemic have been satisfactory in nature. The study revealed an overall positive correlation with all the different aspects that have been included in the study in a highly positive manner by highlighting their interconnected nature with all the different aspects within it.

However, gaps with respect to health emergencies in terms of medications and supplies, public education, and professional education, which point to areas that may undermine the effective service delivery in health emergencies, have also been pointed out.

REFERENCES

As published

Showing references and in-text citations exactly as published.

  1. 1.Ahmad Suleiman, M.; Magaji, M. G.; Mohammed, S.. Evaluation of pharmacists’ knowledge in emergency preparedness and disaster management. International Journal of Pharmacy Practice. 2022;30(4):348–353.GOOGLE SCHOLAR
  2. 2.Alkhudaydi, K. A.; Algethami, S. H.; Alsaiari, M. Y.; Alshahrani, A. H.; Alasmari, M. A.; Altwerqi, A. H. et al. The Role of Pharmacists in Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Response. Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research. 2024;7(S12):1246.GOOGLE SCHOLAR
  3. 3.Alsharyah, I. H.; S Zudaid, H. M.; Alyami, S. S.; Alyami, A. H.; M Alzabaid, H. S.; Hussain Alsleem, M. H. et al. Multidisciplinary Collaboration for Enhanced Public Health Response: Insights from Pharmacy, Epidemiology, Emergency Care, and Social Services. Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research (JICRCR). 2024;7(2).GOOGLE SCHOLAR
  4. 4.Bahlol, M.; Dewey, R. S.. Pandemic preparedness of community pharmacies for COVID-19. Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy. 2021;17(1):1888–1896.GOOGLE SCHOLAR
  5. 5.Basheti, I. A.; Nassar, R.; Barakat, M.; Alqudah, R.; Abufarha, R.; Mukattash, T. L. et al. Pharmacists’ readiness to deal with the coronavirus pandemic: assessing awareness and perception of roles. Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy. 2021;17(3):514–522.GOOGLE SCHOLAR
  6. 6.Chiu, K.; Thow, A. M.; Bero, L.. “Never waste a good crisis”: opportunities and constraints from the COVID-19 pandemic on pharmacists’ scope of practice. Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy. 2022;18(9):3638–3648.GOOGLE SCHOLAR
  7. 7.Elden, N.; Mandil, A.; Hegazy, A.; Nagy, N.; Mabry, R.; Khairy, W.. Health innovations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: perspectives from the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Journal of Public Health. 2023;45(2):470–480.GOOGLE SCHOLAR
  8. 8.Gautier, L.; Noda, S.; Chabrol, F.; David, P.-M.; Duhoux, A.; Hou, R. et al. Hospital governance during the COVID-19 pandemic: a multiple-country case study. Health Systems and Reform. 2023;9(2):2173551.GOOGLE SCHOLAR
  9. 9.Haridi, H.; Al-Ammar, A.; Al-Mansour, M.. Compliance with infection control standard precautions guidelines: a survey among dental healthcare workers in Hail Region. Saudi Arabia J Infect Prev. 2018;17(6):268–76.GOOGLE SCHOLAR
  10. 10.Hong, E.; Jung, A.; Woo, K.. A cross-sectional study on public health nurses' disaster competencies and influencing factors during the COVID-19 pandemic in Korea. BMC Public Health. 2022;22(1):731.GOOGLE SCHOLAR
  11. 11.Ibrahim, O. M.; Ibrahim, R. M.; Ibrahim, Y. A.; Madawi, E. A.; Al Deri, M. Y.. Shedding the light on Pharmacists’ roles during COVID-19 global pandemic. Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal. 2022;30(1):14–27.GOOGLE SCHOLAR
  12. 12.Isleem, N.; Naseralallah, L.; Koraysh, S.; Abu Ghalyoun, A.; Alnaimi, S.; Pallivalapila, A. et al. Disaster preparedness amongst emergency pharmacists for the FIFA world cup Qatar 2022™: a cross-sectional survey. Risk Management and Healthcare Policy. 2023;573–583.GOOGLE SCHOLAR
  13. 13.Kreisberg, D.; Thomas, D. S.; Valley, M.; Newell, S.; Janes, E.; Little, C.. Vulnerable populations in hospital and health care emergency preparedness planning: a comprehensive framework for inclusion. Prehospital and disaster medicine. 2016;31(2):211–219.GOOGLE SCHOLAR
  14. 14.Organization, W. H.. Multisectoral preparedness coordination framework: best practices, case studies and key elements of advancing multisectoral coordination for health emergency preparedness and health security. 2020.GOOGLE SCHOLAR
  15. 15.Poudel, A.; Nissen, L. M.. Telepharmacy: a pharmacist’s perspective on the clinical benefits and challenges. Integrated Pharmacy Research and Practice. 2016;75–82.GOOGLE SCHOLAR
  16. 16.Salve, S.; Raven, J.; Das, P.; Srinivasan, S.; Khaled, A.; Hayee, M. et al. Community health workers and Covid-19: Cross-country evidence on their roles, experiences, challenges and adaptive strategies. PLOS Global Public Health. 2023;3(1):e0001447..GOOGLE SCHOLAR
  17. 17.Schumacher, L.; Senhaji, S.; Gartner, B. A.; Carrez, L.; Dupuis, A.; Bonnabry, P. et al. Full-scale simulations to improve disaster preparedness in hospital pharmacies. BMC health services research. 2022;22(1):853.GOOGLE SCHOLAR
  18. 18.Singh, D. D.. An Evaluation of Training Strategies Among Healthcare Professionals During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study. Molloy University. 2025.GOOGLE SCHOLAR
  19. 19.Singh, P.; Sapkota, S.; Achour, N.; Ragazzoni, L.; Lamine, H.. Exploring Challenges and Opportunities in Hospital Disaster Preparedness: A Qualitative Study on the Perspectives of Hospital Incident Command System Members. Risk Management and Healthcare Policy. 2025;3499–3515.GOOGLE SCHOLAR
  20. 20.Villacis Alvarez, E.; Noorloos, J.; Wilson, S. J.; Green, R.; Fashan, S.; Pritchett, C. et al. Organizational and systems-level barriers and facilitators to health professionals’ readiness to address domestic and sexualized violence: a qualitative study from Nova Scotia, Canada. Frontiers in Reproductive Health. 2025;7:1598706.GOOGLE SCHOLAR
  21. 21.Visacri, M. B.; Figueiredo, I. V.; de Mendonça Lima, T.. Role of pharmacist during the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review. Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy. 2021;17(1):1799–1806.GOOGLE SCHOLAR
  22. 22.Xu, H.; Gonzalez Mendez, M. J.; Guo, L.; Chen, Q.; Zheng, L.; Chen, P. et al. Knowledge, awareness, and attitudes relating to the COVID-19 pandemic among different populations in central China: cross-sectional survey. Journal of medical Internet research. 2020;22(10):e22628..GOOGLE SCHOLAR
  23. 23.Zoubir, Y. H.; Tran, E.. China’s health silk road in the Middle East and North Africa amidst COVID-19 and a Contested World Order. Journal of contemporary China. 2022;31(135):335–350.GOOGLE SCHOLAR

Cite this article

SELECT FORMAT

Alshammari, M. S. (2026). Evaluating the Awareness of Hospital Pharmacists towards Hospital Pharmacy Services during Pandemic Readiness: A Cross-Sectional Study. Journal of Young Pharmacists, 18(2), 509–515. https://doi.org/10.5530/jyp.20260421