Table 2.

Perceptions of the impact of certification on technician competence alone, in combination with other types of education/training, and in combination with previous work experience.

Skill/Behavior/Knowledge Item	Alone *	with Education *	with Work *
Medication order/prescription entry	2.38±1.24	3.54±1.42	3.65±1.35
Medication order/prescription preparation	2.15±1.07	3.46±1.49	3.62±1.18
Patient/customer service	1.92±1.17	3.15 ± 1.33	3.27 ± 1.37
Non-sterile compounding	2.35 ± 1.24	3.58 ± 1.42	3.65 ± 1.37
Sterile compounding	2.19 ± 1.00	3.54 ± 1.34	3.65 ± 1.36
Inventory management	1.92 ± 0.91	3.38 ± 1.42	3.46 ± 1.34
Billing and other administrative functions	1.73 ± 0.92	3.45 ± 1.30	3.53 ± 1.42
Interpersonal communication	1.65 ± 0.98	3.00 ± 1.36	3.02 ± 1.19
Time management/organization skills	1.73 ± 1.12	2.92 ± 1.47	3.04 ± 1.32
Ethical decision making	1.92 ± 1.22	3.04 ± 1.45	2.88 ± 1.40
Supervision of other technicians	2.19 ± 1.08	3.31 ± 1.40	3.42 ± 1.35
Tech-check-tech	2.31 ± 1.12	3.27 ± 1.31	3.46 ± 1.28
Quality assurance program activities	2.19 ± 1.15	3.38 ± 1.28	3.50 ± 1.24
Professionalism	2.12 ± 1.12	3.23 ± 1.37	3.27 ± 1.33
Problem-solving/innovativeness	1.88 ± 1.01	3.23 ± 1.29	3.37 ± 1.28
Accepting responsibility	1.88 ± 1.21	3.12 ± 1.28	3.15 ± 1.30
Leadership	1.77 ± 1.29	3.24 ± 1.37	3.38 ± 1.34
Emerging/new responsibilities (e.g., immunizations, assistance with MTM)	2.19 ± 1.28	3.48 ± 1.36	3.52 ± 1.33
Basic pharmacology/knowledge of drug names/OTCs	2.69 ± 1.34	3.58 ± 1.36	3.65 ± 1.31
Math computational skills	2.65 ± 1.20	3.65 ± 1.34	3.58 ± 1.28
Managing organizational change	2.08 ± 1.27	3.08 ± 1.28	3.12 ± 1.19

* Mean ± Standard deviation on a scale ranging from 1 = Not at all to 5 = Very much.