I recently worked a store where one of the techs is the laziest I've ever worked with. I hate to see her name on the schedule. For some odd ball reason, she thinks that she doesn't have to run the register. I don't get it! Whenever we work together she has to constantly be reminded to go to the register. I see the customers and I know she does too. She ignores the phone until a customer shows up at pickup. Then she's "Suzy-may-I-help-you". She does everything and anything to keep from helping customers or touching the register. It really makes for a long shift.
On this particular Saturday I had all I could take. A customer showed up at the pickup in the store and one at the drive-thru. I acknowledged them both, while "lazy tech" continued what she was doing--nothing. I looked at her and told her she had to get one or the other and to get it now. She continued doing nothing but pretending to do something. I repeated it again in a more firm tone and she went to pickup.
When my shift ended, I was relieved by the regular pharmacist who is also the pharmacist-in-charge. I walked out and left my keys. When I returned to retrieve them what did I find? I'll tell you. The "lazy tech" was giving her pharmacist an extremely exaggerated version of events. She even acted out my part--adding neck rolling, eye rolling, and hands on the hips to boot. Of course she didn't see me coming but the pharmacist did. Needless to say, they couldn't warn her that I was behind her. Boy was her face red!! I could've bought her for a penny. I got my keys and told the tech I would not be back so she could freely resume her tall tale. Speechless!!!
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Is Ambien the new crack?
If I didn't know better, I would think Ambien was some form of crack. In all my years as a pharmacist I have never seen a sleep aid that hooks people the way this one does. When Ambien came out back in the 90's, a sales rep. claimed it was better than the benzodiazepines (i.e. Valium and Xanax) because it was not addicting-- really. If Ambien is not addicting then I'm a monkey's uncle.
The number of people that request early refills on Ambien blows my mind. I don't care what store or what neighborhood I work, there is going to be at least one or two customers requesting an early refill on it. Moreover, they all are willing to pay full price for it. If denied the refill, they become very hostile.
The last time I worked, a customer wanted to get her refill almost 2 weeks early. When I asked if she was taking more than what was prescribed she replied rather nonchalantly, "yes". I asked if the doctors told her to do that. She responded "no. I'll just pay for them." I, of course, refused the refill and she was not happy.
Ambien, in my opinion, is a bad drug. The side effects are terrible. Some of these adverse reactions include, worsening depression symptoms, suicidal thoughts, hallucinations, mania, amnesia, sleep driving, sleep eating, having sexing while sleeping and aggressive behavior.
It is indicated for the short-term treatment of insomnia. Prescribing it as a chronic medication is not good medical practice (my opinion). Doctors who prescribe Ambien as such, set their patients up for dependency and something as natural as sleep becomes impossible to attain without the drug.
The number of people that request early refills on Ambien blows my mind. I don't care what store or what neighborhood I work, there is going to be at least one or two customers requesting an early refill on it. Moreover, they all are willing to pay full price for it. If denied the refill, they become very hostile.
The last time I worked, a customer wanted to get her refill almost 2 weeks early. When I asked if she was taking more than what was prescribed she replied rather nonchalantly, "yes". I asked if the doctors told her to do that. She responded "no. I'll just pay for them." I, of course, refused the refill and she was not happy.
Ambien, in my opinion, is a bad drug. The side effects are terrible. Some of these adverse reactions include, worsening depression symptoms, suicidal thoughts, hallucinations, mania, amnesia, sleep driving, sleep eating, having sexing while sleeping and aggressive behavior.
It is indicated for the short-term treatment of insomnia. Prescribing it as a chronic medication is not good medical practice (my opinion). Doctors who prescribe Ambien as such, set their patients up for dependency and something as natural as sleep becomes impossible to attain without the drug.
Monday, August 20, 2012
What's Your Name? Dreaded Hyphenated Last Names
Last Saturday my technician and I spent 10 minutes looking for a woman's prescriptions. She insisted they were ready and that she "comes here all the time". I told my tech to ask the woman if she uses another name besides the one she gave us. Of course the customer denies it and then remembers that sometimes we have her in the system under another name. We look for her by the other name. No Luck. The customer got agitated and told us that one of the other techs called her and told her that her prescriptions were ready for pickup. As a last resort we called that technician and she informed us that the customer uses a hyphenated moniker. Uggggh!! I could've screamed.
My biggest pet peeve is customers with hyphenated last names who come in and ask for their prescriptions using one of the names. If you are Jones-Smith, let us know. Why give one of the last names and then get an attitude when we can't find your prescription or your computer profile? Either you are Jones, Smith or Jones-Smith. Pick one and be consistent. Pharmacists are not mind readers. If you don't know what name you go by, don't expect us to know it either.
My biggest pet peeve is customers with hyphenated last names who come in and ask for their prescriptions using one of the names. If you are Jones-Smith, let us know. Why give one of the last names and then get an attitude when we can't find your prescription or your computer profile? Either you are Jones, Smith or Jones-Smith. Pick one and be consistent. Pharmacists are not mind readers. If you don't know what name you go by, don't expect us to know it either.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
How to Alienate a Pharmacy Technician
Any pharmacist knows that a good pharmacy technician can make or break your day and a bad one will assuredly break it. The worst thing a floater can do is get on the bad side of the pharmacy technicians. Creating hostility between you and them is a guaranteed way to screw up your shift upon the first encounter and forever in the future.
How do you get on a pharmacy technician's bad side? One surefire way is to go in and try to pull rank. This especially holds true for the lead pharmacy technician. Some in that position feel that they are in charge when their regular pharmacist is away. They believe it's their job to keep the pharmacy together and prevent the lowly and incompetent floater from destroying what they and their pharmacist worked so hard to build.
Failure to allow the pharmacy technician to do what he or she pleases (i.e, ignore customers and the phone; take longer and numerous breaks; text) results in hostility as well as the floater being labeled "mean" or "difficult to work with". God forbid, you try to direct their activities for the day. Please don't ask them to answer the phone or go to the register. That's your job. Remember, they are in charge for the day. You are just a substitute sent to assist them.
Hostility may also arise if you actually do treat them mean, disrespectfully, or if you are in fact, difficult to work with. In such cases, you reap what you sow. Nobody wants to be mistreated.
Some pharmacy technicians become hostile because you insist on doing things differently than what they are accustomed to. Perhaps you like your bottles labeled a particular way or maybe you are not as comfortable as the regular pharmacist allowing the technician to take call-in scrips from the physician's office. That's your prerogative. It shouldn't cause animosity. But unfortunately, in some cases, it does
Laziness on the part of the floater also breeds hostility. No one wants to work their butts off while the floater sits on a stool and plays with her cell phone or reads magazines. I always say that we are a team and we need to work as such. Give a helping hand at the register or the drive thru when needed. Do whatever you can to help the team. In retail pharmacy, no job should be beneath the pharmacist. I promise your license won't be revoked if you touch register keys and the technicians will appreciate you.
How do you get on a pharmacy technician's bad side? One surefire way is to go in and try to pull rank. This especially holds true for the lead pharmacy technician. Some in that position feel that they are in charge when their regular pharmacist is away. They believe it's their job to keep the pharmacy together and prevent the lowly and incompetent floater from destroying what they and their pharmacist worked so hard to build.
Failure to allow the pharmacy technician to do what he or she pleases (i.e, ignore customers and the phone; take longer and numerous breaks; text) results in hostility as well as the floater being labeled "mean" or "difficult to work with". God forbid, you try to direct their activities for the day. Please don't ask them to answer the phone or go to the register. That's your job. Remember, they are in charge for the day. You are just a substitute sent to assist them.
Hostility may also arise if you actually do treat them mean, disrespectfully, or if you are in fact, difficult to work with. In such cases, you reap what you sow. Nobody wants to be mistreated.
Some pharmacy technicians become hostile because you insist on doing things differently than what they are accustomed to. Perhaps you like your bottles labeled a particular way or maybe you are not as comfortable as the regular pharmacist allowing the technician to take call-in scrips from the physician's office. That's your prerogative. It shouldn't cause animosity. But unfortunately, in some cases, it does
Laziness on the part of the floater also breeds hostility. No one wants to work their butts off while the floater sits on a stool and plays with her cell phone or reads magazines. I always say that we are a team and we need to work as such. Give a helping hand at the register or the drive thru when needed. Do whatever you can to help the team. In retail pharmacy, no job should be beneath the pharmacist. I promise your license won't be revoked if you touch register keys and the technicians will appreciate you.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Floaters are Pharmacist Too
Believe it or not, relief pharmacists did not get their degree or license from the university bookstore. They earned them. We are not as incompetent as some tend to treat us. Many or most of us float by choice not force. I say this because every time I work with new technicians they act as if working as a floater is a demotion or some sort of punishment. It is not. Contrary to what some may believe, we were not in the bottom of our class or in danger of being fired. We float because we want to...at least I do.
Stop judging us and please don't disrespect us. Some pharmacy technicians take it upon themselves to run the pharmacy in the absence of their "regular" pharmacist. They actually take on the role of pharmacist and have the nerve to delegate work to you--the floater. They act as if you are working under them. They "tell"you what they are doing rather than "ask" if its okay with you. For example, one technician told me that she was giving a patient a 3 day supply of her medicine to hold her until the doctor approved her refill. She just needed me to verify that it was the right medication in the bottle. Excuse me! Shouldn't you ask the pharmacist first?
It's not just the technicians who disrespect us. How about those store managers? Tonight, the manager pulled my technician and had him run the front register so he could have a pow wow with his front cashier. The technician had just returned from his thirty minute break and my only other tech was clocking out for the day. He did not ask me could I spare him. As a matter of fact, he didn't even speak to me at all. My technician called me from the front of the store and told me he would be running the front register and would be back in the pharmacy as soon as he could. Say what now? Let me get this straight, so I'm suppose to run the pharmacy register, the drive thru, answer the phone, do data entry, fill and check prescriptions while my pharmacy technician is up front checking customers out. NO RESPECT. I would bet my 6 month old daughter that if the "regular" pharmacist was working, the manager would not have tried that stunt.
Stop treating floaters like substitute teachers. We are not there just to check prescriptions until the "regular" pharmacist returns. We don't care how your "regular" pharmacist does it. Today we are in charge. It's our name and we will be held accountable for what goes out during our shift.
Stop judging us and please don't disrespect us. Some pharmacy technicians take it upon themselves to run the pharmacy in the absence of their "regular" pharmacist. They actually take on the role of pharmacist and have the nerve to delegate work to you--the floater. They act as if you are working under them. They "tell"you what they are doing rather than "ask" if its okay with you. For example, one technician told me that she was giving a patient a 3 day supply of her medicine to hold her until the doctor approved her refill. She just needed me to verify that it was the right medication in the bottle. Excuse me! Shouldn't you ask the pharmacist first?
It's not just the technicians who disrespect us. How about those store managers? Tonight, the manager pulled my technician and had him run the front register so he could have a pow wow with his front cashier. The technician had just returned from his thirty minute break and my only other tech was clocking out for the day. He did not ask me could I spare him. As a matter of fact, he didn't even speak to me at all. My technician called me from the front of the store and told me he would be running the front register and would be back in the pharmacy as soon as he could. Say what now? Let me get this straight, so I'm suppose to run the pharmacy register, the drive thru, answer the phone, do data entry, fill and check prescriptions while my pharmacy technician is up front checking customers out. NO RESPECT. I would bet my 6 month old daughter that if the "regular" pharmacist was working, the manager would not have tried that stunt.
Stop treating floaters like substitute teachers. We are not there just to check prescriptions until the "regular" pharmacist returns. We don't care how your "regular" pharmacist does it. Today we are in charge. It's our name and we will be held accountable for what goes out during our shift.
The Introduction
I'm a relief pharmacist, also called a pharmacist floater--my official title. I've been a pharmacist for over 20 years and have floated for many of them. The position became a necessity after my second child.
Personally, I love floating. It offers flexibility, a must for a mother of 4 little darlings. I also don't have to worry about all of the other stuff that goes along with being a "regular" or manager of the pharmacy. I go in, do my shift and go home. I don't have to worry about hours, budgets or any other metrics. After arriving home, I don't stress about what needs to be done. I sleep peacefully.
However, from time-to-time, after working one of my 4 hour evening or all day Saturday shifts, I find myself venting to my husband. He often says" you always have a story to tell. You should write them down". I took his advice and from that a blog was born.
Anyone who has ever worked in a retail pharmacy knows it can be rather interesting and sometimes frustrating. The people we encounter provide much material for dinnertime and bedtime stories. Come along with me as I share some of my stories, tips, frustrations,and advice.
Personally, I love floating. It offers flexibility, a must for a mother of 4 little darlings. I also don't have to worry about all of the other stuff that goes along with being a "regular" or manager of the pharmacy. I go in, do my shift and go home. I don't have to worry about hours, budgets or any other metrics. After arriving home, I don't stress about what needs to be done. I sleep peacefully.
However, from time-to-time, after working one of my 4 hour evening or all day Saturday shifts, I find myself venting to my husband. He often says" you always have a story to tell. You should write them down". I took his advice and from that a blog was born.
Anyone who has ever worked in a retail pharmacy knows it can be rather interesting and sometimes frustrating. The people we encounter provide much material for dinnertime and bedtime stories. Come along with me as I share some of my stories, tips, frustrations,and advice.
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