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.