Implementing a pharmacy immunisation and injection training programme through interprofessional collaboration

In 2014, Manitoba joined other Canadian provinces by approving legislation allowing pharmacists to administer immunisations and other injections. To address the challenge of training practicing pharmacists and pharmacy students in an unfamiliar skill set, a stakeholder group consisting of professionals from pharmacy, nursing, and later medicine was formed. The stakeholder group, termed the Immunisations and Injections Program Group (IIPG), developed a training program useable for both practicing pharmacists and pharmacy students that included a didactic and practical lab portion. Online delivery was largely utilised for the didactic portion. Nurse instructors were utilised at a minimum of 6:1 participant to instructor ratio for the practical lab component for education, demonstration, and evaluation roles. Pharmacist instructors with immunisation experience obtained out-of-province, educated on new assessment, monitoring, and legal requirements for the practice advancement. The newly developed training program has been successfully utilised to train 796 participants.