World Quality Day 2008

Quality and the benefits it gives to organisations that implement it, will be celebrated on World Quality Day, 13 November 2008.  This day gives organisations the opportunity to reinforce the quality message and celebrate the work people in their organisations do to achieve quality. 

Pharmacists in every industry has a role to play in the achievement and promotion of quality.  Successful quality awareness programmes presents a challenge to those of us responsible for implementing it in the workplace but without the support and cooperation of our colleagues or employees, our quality efforts will not be very successful.  However, something that must be remembered is that quality cannot be taught or imposed - it is a matter of the stand we take.  Our efforts should therefore not be directed at “educating” or “teaching” quality principles, but rather influencing employees’ values and beliefs, their way of thinking.  If employees apply the value or principle of ”excellence” in their work on a daily basis, quality will automatically be part of the deal.

For a basic introduction to Quality Assurance and to promote Quality Assurance Awareness in the workplace, visit www.pharmaconnect.co.za.  Click on  Information and then “Featured Products and Launches”.  In the Quest for Quality article you will find a short summary on this topic as well as instructions on how to receive your free slideshow on this topic which you can use for training in the workplace.  Check the website regularly for the next presentations in the series.

Pharmaconnect.co.za celebrates 1st birthday & Connection Survey 2008

We are very proud to be celebrating the first birthday of Pharmaconnect.co.za!  We believe that Pharmaconnect.co.za provides the unique opportunity to pharmacists and healthcare professionals in the pharmaceutical industry to connect.  We would like to thank everyone for their contribution to the growth of the website over the past year.  It has been an interesting journey and we connected wth many different individuals.   One of the improvements on the website this year was the addition of a flash window on the homepage: http://www.pharmaconnect.co.za, highlighting what the main purpose of the website is and providing an additional marketing opportunity to our partners.

To celebrate our first birthday, Pharmaconnect.co.za will be launching new tools for pharmacists as well as provide an exclusive marketing opportunity to our partners.

Here is to connecting with even more pharmacists and healthcare professionals in the year to come!

Pharmaconnect.co.za – Connection Survey 2008

We would like to know more about our users and their impression of Pharmaconnect.co.za.  Please take 2 minutes to complete our survey and help us to improve!    

Click here to take the survey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pharmacy in the Garden – Echinacea

In the last couple of years, there has certainly been an increased awareness among the public regarding the use of herbs and medicinal plants.  Pharmaconnect.co.za decided to make “Pharmacy in the Garden” a regular feature on the website.  The first medicinal plant we chose to discuss, was Echinacea, especially because it’s winter and can be used in the prevention and treatment of colds and flu but also because it is easy to grow in your own garden!    

A fantastic sunny garden plant, with wonderful medicinal properties, this plant is long-lived and often seen in summer gardens to attract butterflies or for use as a cut flower.  It is almost essential to have this plant in your garden, not only for its medicinal properties, but also because it is a natural tonic for other plants in the garden.  Make a delicious tea from the flowers and leaves: Brew ¼ cup flowers and leaves and 1 cup boiling water.  Leave to brew for 5 minutes and strain.  Drink one cup fresh tea daily to strengthen the immune system, but not too regularly, only when you have flu or bronchitis. 

Medicinal uses:

Echinacea is well known for its anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-inflammatory properties.  Echinacea stimulates white blood cell activity, thereby increasing the body’s production of antiviral substances e.g. interferon and assist immune cells in fighting some of the viruses that cause bronchitis.  It is commonly recommended by herbalists as an agent to lessen the symptoms and duration at the onset of a cold or the flu.

For other medicinal uses and gardening tips, read the full article on Pharmaconnect.co.za – http://www.pharmaconnect.co.za  in the Interaction, Practical Advice section.

Pharmacy: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

The pharmacy profession has changed.  The reason why a pharmacist choose pharmacy as a career, might not be the reason for still practising the profession today.  Or it may be the reason for not being in the profession anymore.  Especially in South Africa, pharmacists had to deal with a lot of change in the last couple of years.  The effect of this is evident in the decreasing number of students registering at the universities.   At first, pharmacists had to deal with doing community service for the first time and more recently, the new price legislation had an effect on all sectors of pharmacy.

Why are you a pharmacist?  What motivates you and what do you enjoy about pharmacy?  One of the reasons why I chose this career, was the different fields that pharmacists can enter after qualifying.  This is still true and you will find pharmacists in all kinds of professions outside the retail pharmacy.  But I still talk to a lot of friends who are not happy and who cannot seem to find the “ideal” job.  For some of them the reason for not being happy in their current position is the salary, for others the working conditions (long hours, colleagues ….).  But I believe that you will find all these factors in other professions as well. 

It would be interesting to hear the views of other pharmacists in various fields of pharmacy…