The National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities (NAPRA) has published updated entry-to-practice (ETP) competencies for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in Canada. The competencies have been revised to better reflect the knowledge, skills, abilities, attitudes, and judgements that entry-level pharmacists and pharmacy technicians require to practise safely and ethically in today’s environment and for at least the next six years.
It’s important to understand that the NAPRA ETP competencies document should not be applied in isolation but is expected to be applied in the context of the overall practice environment, as evidenced through national model standards and Alberta’s scopes of practice for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, ACP’s standards and guidance documents, and other legislative requirements.
Take note of the following highlights from the NAPRA ETP competencies document:
- Competencies 1.7.3 and 1.7.4 indicate an intention to change the way that the pharmacy regulatory authorities (e.g., ACP) will ensure competence in sterile and hazardous compounding in the future, to better align with regulatory principles.
- Competencies 1.7.3 and 1.7.4 outline the need for all pharmacy professionals to have theoretical knowledge of sterile and hazardous compounding principles, procedures, and risks at the time of entering practice.
- In the future, the competencies required to compound sterile preparations or hazardous preparations will not be required of all pharmacy professionals at the time of entering practice. These competencies will only be required for individuals intending to work in specific settings where sterile or hazardous compounding takes place. However, the footnotes to competencies 1.7.3 and 1.7.4 explain that this change will not come into effect until NAPRA and its members have released their plan to ensure appropriate training and assessment of individuals to perform sterile or hazardous compounding before engaging in this area of pharmacy practice.
- The competency statement included in the 2014 version of the ETP document “Prepare and compound non-sterile and sterile products according to recognized guidelines and standards of practice” will continue to apply in the interim. NAPRA will inform interested parties once the plan is in place and this 2014 competency is no longer required.
- For clarity, as noted in competency 1.7.2, all pharmacy professionals will need to have the theoretical knowledge, practical skills, and judgement for non-sterile, non-hazardous compounding.
NAPRA will lead the work to help ACP and other regulators across Canada to develop a national approach to ensure appropriate competence development and assessment of individuals to perform sterile and hazardous compounding before undertaking these activities.
